February 3, 2006

India exported US$1.5 billion worth of seafood in 2005

India exported 4.6 lakh tonnes (460,000 tonnes) of seafood worth Rs 6,700 crore (US$1.52 billion) last fiscal, said Rajarshi Banerjee, secretary of the Seafood Exporters' Association of India, Bengal region.

Seafood exports are expected to reach US$4.5 billion by 2009 from US$1.5 billion at present. This should bring about an increase in the share of value-added products, at a low of 5 percent to 10 percent now, to 30 percent to 40 percent by then, according to the Marine Products Export Development Authority of India (MPEDA).

Fish exports in some states like Bengal have gone from 200 to 300 tonnes about five years ago to 2500 to 3000 tonnes last year, mainly due to outstanding improvements made in certain districts.

The state has an untapped area of 145,000 hectares for black tiger prawn cultivation, but political squabbling has deterred potential cultivators from setting up breeding farms, according to industry sources.

The MPEDA plans to make India a reprocessing hub for seafood. However, currently less than half the 320 processing units in the country are approved by the European Union.

The top importer of Indian seafood is the EU, followed by the USA, Japan and China.