Shrunken shrimp exports push aquaculturists into despair

Amaravati: Aqua farmers in Andhra Pradesh are in distress as export of marine products has practically stalled. The season' that would normally bring cheer to the aquaculturists has now pushed them into despair with no takers for their produce. Marine products export is high from November through December, where consumption rises around Christmas time. This year, however, there is a slump in the international markets, triggered among others by the Russia-Ukraine war.

Marine products, particularly shrimp, from India have large overseas markets in the USA, China and Europe but the financial crunch caused by the war has jeopardised the European market, shrimp exporters said. The tiny South American nation Ecuador has emerged as a major competitor for Indian shrimp, thereby curtailing the US market and causing the biggest problem to aquaculturists here.

Ecuador is giving Indian aquaculturists a run for their money by offering its produce for a lesser price. It is producing shrimp in a larger extent and offering it at a lower price, thus capturing the US market. This is hitting us hard, Indian marine products exporters said.

With the threat of Covid-19 ostensibly still looming on its territory, China has for the first time imposed several restrictions on marine products' import from India, compounding the crisis. Vietnam is also eating into the Indian shrimp exports by doing value-addition and catering to the Chinese market. We mainly export raw shrimp without any value-addition and are, hence, losing the market, P Ramachandra Raju, an exporter, noted.

Ramachandra Raju observed that Indian shrimp was still in demand in Russia. Yet, we are unable to export to that country because our money is already stuck there. Russia has money but it has no proper banking channels, so the payments are stalled, Raju said. AP, being the largest exporter of marine products from India, is the worst hit due to the current crisis in the export market, aquaculturists pointed out.

The state government, too, endorsed this but the Kochi-based Marine
Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is apparently yet to
respond to the crisis.

The ongoing crisis is a result of volatility in the international markets. Our exports are hit mainly as the Chinese market has been shut down. The Centre should take the issue up with China, AP Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Minister
S Appala Raju said. He said the state government represented the issue to the Centre for necessary action.

AP generally produces around eight lakh tonnes of aqua products every year, catering mostly to the overseas markets. This time we could not even export 30 per cent of our produce so far, Joint Secretary of the Prawn Producers Association R Yuvaraju pointed out.

In the absence of export orders, the processing units are refusing to handle the harvested stock while storage facilities are inadequate. With not much domestic market, aqua farmers are in a quandary over their produce as there is no option but to destroy it.

Rajya Sabha member and also member of the Seafood Exporters' Association of India, Beeda Masthan Rao hoped the situation would improve in the next couple of months. The international market is affected but hopefully export orders may start coming in the next few months, he said. Efforts to reach MPEDA officials for their inputs on the current scenario yielded no result.