India produces more farmed prawns than any other country in the world, and it contributes roughly 6% of all seafood produced worldwide.
In 2019, India exported 652,253 MT of prawns, valued at $4.89 billion USD.
The United States (46.7%), China (23.8%), the European Union (12.1%), and Japan (6.4%) are the major markets. A total of 6, 52,253 tonne of frozen prawns were exported from India to all countries in 2019–20, and they brought in $4,889.12 million in foreign money. The dollar value and volume of prawn exports climbed by 6.04% and 6.20%, respectively, throughout the period.
However, due to a decrease in supply, India’s prawn exports fell by 16% in terms of rupees and 23% in terms of dollars in July 2020.
According to the ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry & dairying, India has pushed the European Union (EU) to lower sampling frequency at border inspection posts, which is presently fixed at 50%, and to let newly-listed fishing enterprises to export farmed prawns to the union.
India has emphasised the need to lower the present sample frequency and return to the previous standard of 10%. Additionally, India has asked the EU to approve the export of farmed prawns from recently listed Indian fisheries enterprises to the EU market as well as the re-listing of previously de-listed fishing institutions.
Parshottam Rupala, the Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, brought up these vital issues on July 27 at a meeting with a team from the EU headed by Virginijus Sinkeviius, the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries.
The objective of the bilateral meeting was to explore opportunities for collaboration between the two parties while addressing a variety of fisheries and aquaculture-related topics.
On the request of the EU, both parties consented to work together bilaterally within the framework of a proposed joint working group on fisheries to address important issues like the port state measure agreement, fisheries subsidies issues in the WTO, Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), “Ocean and Fisheries Dialogue,” and issues related to market access
Following the invitation given during the India-EU Leaders’ Summit in May 2021, the EU was also asked to take part in any pillar of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) as an extension of India’s diplomatic efforts.
