January 24, 2007

India's marine exports grows 8 percent in 2006

Marine products' exports from India has risen 8.03 percent in value and 3.81 percent in quantity during the first nine months of this fiscal year, according to provisional figures prepared by Marine Products Export Development Authority (Mpeda).

India exported 410,983 tonnes of seafood, worth Rs 6,055.39 crore (US$1.36 million) during the period.

Growing demand for fish and declining fish catches in the world's oceans has led to rapid growth in aquaculture production and trade, the MPEDA said.

About 22 percent of the Indian fish exported comes from aquaculture but it accounts for more than 55 percent of the value. Along with changes in India, there has been a global shift to aquaculture, the MPEDA noted.

At the recent Indaqua show, experts felt it was important that each country had to develop strategies based on their own indigenous species. For India, the industry should concentrate on the niche market for its black

tiger shrimp, said Mpeda marketing director Thomas Kuruvilla.

However, he noted that some exporters feel that with the high capital cost involved, it would be difficult to introduce the species.

He also noted that along with growing production and consumption, there was increasing demand for improved sustainability, social acceptability and human safety from the aquaculture sector. There is now more pressure on producers to focus on production methods to address these issues, he added.