The more than $8-billion seafood industry has reiterated its demand to expand the area under aquaculture and to create an ecosystem where aquaculture will flourish in the country. Indian industry should get a level-playing field like Ecuador, which has forged ahead in shrimp culture, and Vietnam and Thailand in terms of wild catch, said Seafood Exporters’ Association of India (SEAI) president Jagdish Fofandi on Monday.
He said Ecuador was well entrenched in the US shrimp market, while Indian wild-caught shrimp had been banned in the country over the past four years. Abraham Tharakan, a seafood industry veteran, said Indian shrimp exports to the US used to be worth around $250 million in the past.
They were speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the two-day dialogue on fishery certification for achieving sustainable development goals in India. The programme has the support and cooperation from SEAI, Sustainable Seafood Network of India, NITI Ayog, Marine Stewardship Council, and WWF.
