India’s seafood exports drop by 30%

While for the first time in the history of marine product exports in the last fiscal, India’s export earnings had crossed $3.5 billion, this fiscal till the end of August, exports have dropped to the extent of 30 per cent. Speaking to IANS, a top official of the industry said the primary reason is the recession in the US and Europe, the major export market for Indian seafood. “The 30 per cent drop from April to August this year is in comparison to the same period in 2011. This is not just the case for Indian seafood exports but the overall scenario,” said the official, who did not wish to be identified. This poor show has come at a time when in the last fiscal seafood export had crossed all previous records in quantity, rupee value and US dollar terms. Exports during 2011-12 aggregated to 862,021 tonnes valued at Rs.16,597.23 crores ($3,508.45 million). Seafood exports recorded a growth of 6.02 per cent in quantity, 28.65 per cent in rupee terms and 22.81 per cent growth in US dollar earnings, over the 2010-11 fiscal. In the last fiscal, exports to the European Union and the US jointly accounted for 41.13 per cent of the total seafood exports in US dollar terms, with a combined lifting of 26 per cent of the total quantity of the total seafood quantity exported from the country. From gulftoday