India’s seafood exports have more than doubled over the past decade, surging from $4.05 billion in 2013-14 to $8.11 billion in FY 2023-24. With this momentum, the government is now targeting an export turnover of $18 billion by 2030, according to a statement from the Department of Fisheries.
This ambitious target is part of the Vision Document-2030 for India’s seafood exports, formulated by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), which operates under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. MPEDA plays a pivotal role in overseeing the country’s seafood exports.
The Department of Fisheries is implementing the flagship Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) scheme, with an investment of $2.67 billion in the fisheries sector over five years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25 across all states and Union Territories. This investment has significantly boosted exports.
The PMMSY scheme aims to enhance marine exports to $13.4 billion in 2024-25. It addresses critical gaps in fish production, productivity, quality, technology, post-harvest infrastructure, and management, modernization and strengthening of the value chain, reduction of post-harvest losses, and marketing infrastructure.
To bolster marketing infrastructure, PMMSY has supported 27,189 units of fish transportation facilities, 21 state-of-the-art wholesale fish markets, 202 fish retail markets, 6,694 fish kiosks, and five e-platforms for e-trading and e-marketing of fish and fisheries products, with a total outlay of $220 million across the country.
The Department of Fisheries, through the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), has launched the ‘Fish Market Price Information System’ (FMPIS) to provide real-time and accurate price information to fishers and fish farmers. This system captures and disseminates fish market prices of commercially important marine and inland fishes from 111 wholesale and retail fish markets in 29 states and Union Territories.
Additionally, the Department of Fisheries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to provide a digital platform and empower stakeholders, including traditional fishermen and fish farmers, to buy and sell their products through an e-marketplace.
PMMSY has also supported 2,195 fisheries cooperatives as Fish Farmers Producer Organizations (FFPOs) with a project outlay of $72 million through National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED).
To enhance India’s export competitiveness and achieve higher price realization, PMMSY supports a range of interventions along the fisheries value chain. These include quality fish production, expansion and diversification of brackish water aquaculture, promotion of export-oriented species, technology infusion, robust disease management and traceability, training and capacity building, creation of modern post-harvest infrastructure with seamless cold chain, and development of modern fishing harbors and fish landing centers.
