June 2, 2014
Rise in shrimp production pushes up India's marine product exports
With the rise in Vannamei shrimp production and better infrastructure facilities, exports of marine products from India rose 42% to US$5 billion during the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2014.
It is an all-time high record for India's seafood exports. During the previous financial year, exports totalled US$3.51 billion.
Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is targeting US$6 billion for this fiscal year. Chairman Leena Nair said that increased production of Vannamei shrimp, quality control measures and improvement on infrastructure for value-added products will help to achieve the target.
Frozen shrimp continued to be the major export value item accounting for 64.12% of the total earnings. Shrimp exports during the period increased by 31.85% in quantity and 78.06% in value respectively.
The US is the largest market (95,927 tonnes) for frozen shrimps exports in quantity terms, followed by European Union (73,487 tonnes), South East Asia (52,533 tonnes) and Japan (28,719 tonnes).