Parliament Question: Seafood Export

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 2723 ANSWERED ON 04/08/2026 SEAFOOD EXPORT

2723. SHRI GANESH SINGH:

Will the MINISTER OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING be pleased to

state:

(a) the factors that contributed to India's seafood exports reaching a record level in Financial Year 2025-26, including the role played by flagship initiatives such as the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund(FIDF) and export promotion efforts undertaken through MPEDA;

(b) the details of investments made, infrastructure created and beneficiaries covered under these initiatives since 2014, along with their impact on fish production, value addition, employment generation and export growth;

(c) the details of seafood exports during the last five years, including the contribution of aquaculture and marine fisheries sectors, commodity and State-wise; and

(d) the steps being taken to strengthen cold-chain infrastructure, processing capacity, quality certification, traceability and market access to enhance the global competitiveness of Indian seafood products? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING (SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH)

(a) to (d): The Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India has, since 2015, made substantial investments in the fisheries sector through flagship schemes with a cumulative outlay of ₹39,272 crore for the holistic development of fisheries and aquaculture and the welfare of fishers including (i) Blue Revolution Scheme (2015-16 to 2019-

20) with an outlay of ₹5,000 crore; (ii) Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund

(FIDF) (2018-19 to 2025-26) with an outlay of ₹7,522.48 crore; (iii) Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) (2020-21 onwards) with an outlay of ₹20,750 crore; (iv) Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PMMKSSY) (2023-24 to 2026-27) with a total outlay of ₹6,000 crore; and (v) extension of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) facility to fishers and fish farmers to meet their working capital requirements. These interventions are aimed at enhancing fish production and productivity, strengthening post-harvest infrastructure and value chains, improving quality, traceability and marketing, generating employment, and increasing the income of fishers and fish farmers. The sustained implementation of these initiatives has significantly strengthenedproduction, infrastructure, value addition, quality assurance and market access, contributing to India's highest-ever seafood exports of ₹73,890.46 crore during FY 2025-26.

Under PMMSY, projects have been approved for promotion of branding, standards, certification, traceability, capacity building, post-harvest infrastructure, cold-chain facilities, and modernization of fishing harbours and fish landing centres. Further, infrastructure has been strengthened through the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF). The key infrastructure activities approved under these schemes includes; 183 fishing harbours and fish landing centres, 775 cold storages and ice plants, 1,394 live fish vending units, 6,018 fish kiosks, 117 retail fish markets, 24 wholesale fish markets, 28,489 units of fish transportation facilities such as 13,718 motorcycles with ice boxes, 8,527 bicycles with ice boxes, 4,257 auto rickshaws, 1,577 insulated trucks and 410 refrigerated trucks.

To strengthen market access, the Government is pursuing new Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) while improving the utilisation of existing FTAs. The Department of Fisheries has also undertaken extensive stakeholder consultations and strategic engagements through Investors' Meets in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, the Coastal States Fisheries Meet (Mumbai), Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Meet (Indore), Seafood Exporters Meets (New Delhi, 2025 and 2026), the National Workshop on Cold Water Fisheries (Srinagar), the National Workshop on Seafood Exports (Visakhapatnam), and World Fisheries Day celebrations (New Delhi), with a focus on promoting value addition, strengthening the seafood export ecosystem and expanding market opportunities. A Round Table Conference with Ambassadors and High Commissioners from 39 countries was also organised in New Delhi to promote seafood exports, strengthen diplomatic engagement, facilitate market access, encourage collaboration on sustainable fisheries, and foster investment and technology transfer in the fisheries and aquaculture sector. In addition, bilateral engagements with major importing countries are being undertaken to address market access issues and expand export opportunities for Indian seafood products. Further, to improve the global competitiveness of the sector, the Government is facilitating ease of doing business through regulatory reforms and streamlining of imports. The recent Union Budget has enhanced the duty- free import limit of specified inputs used in seafood processing from 1% to 3% of the previous year's Free on Board (FOB) export value to promote value-added exports.

Sustainability and compliance initiatives include promotion of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in trawl nets, strengthening antibiotic residue controls, supporting marine mammal conservation, and implementation of a comprehensive fisheries traceability framework. The Sustainable Harnessing of Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Rules, 2025 have also been notified to promote high-value, export-oriented fisheries in the Andaman &Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. Through sustained efforts, the number of fishery establishments approved for export to the European Union, China, Russia, the United Kingdom (UK), Turkey and Brazil has increased in recent years.

As per the information received from Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) financial assistance is provided for development of export-oriented value-added infrastructure through Technology Development for Specific Value-Added Marine Products (TDSVMP) Scheme.

The Scheme supports the establishment and modernization of fish processing facilities, cold storages, automated processing machinery, infrastructure for handling live, chilled, ornamental, and dried fish, and the development of new value-added seafood products. During the period from 2021- 22 to 2025-26, financial assistance of ₹118.10 crore has been provided to 89 seafood processing units under the Scheme.Further, the Export Inspection Council (EIC) under the Department of Commerce is the Competent Authority for quality control and inspection of notified export products, including marine products.

To ensure compliance with importing countries' requirements, EIC conducts periodic training on Food Safety Management System (FSMS) requirements for approved seafood export establishments and mandates testing of aquaculture shrimp for banned antibiotics during export certification.

MPEDA complements these efforts through pre-harvest testing and certification programmes such as SHAPHARI, while MPEDA, the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) and EIC jointly implement the National Residue Control Plan (NRCP) to strengthen residue monitoring, traceability and compliance with international standards.

The implementation of various fisheries development schemes of the Department of Fisheries and other Government initiatives has contributed significantly to the growth of the fisheries sector, resulting in a 106% increase in annual fish production from 95.79 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 to 197.75 lakh tonnes in 2024-25; a 100% increase in seafood exports from ₹30,213 crore in 2013-14 to ₹73,890.46 crore in 2025-26; an increase in the share of value-added products in seafood exports from 2% in 2013-14 to 11% in 2024-25; and creation of direct and indirect employment opportunities benefiting about 75.07 lakh fishers, fish farmers and other stakeholders.

As reported by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), the State-wise volume and value of seafood exports during the last five years are provided in Annexure-I, while the commodity-wise export details are provided in Annexure-II.Annexure I Statement referred to in reply to part (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2723 put in by Shri Ganesh Singh, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha for answer on 04th August, 2026, regarding SEAFOOD EXPORT.

STATE-WISE EXPORT PERFORMANCE (2021-22 to 2025-26) Q: Quantity in Tons, V: Value Rs in Crore States 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 GUJARAT Q 200099 248863 284088 282158 312259 V 4421.10 5466.94 5511.36 5889.29 7145.67 MAHARASHTRA Q 193999 214167 222453 227866 281147 V 7303.92 7466.47 6923.34 7343.38 9057.83 GOA Q 36057 63333 55167 45469 49358 V 730.64 1007.60 934.20 788.81 903.60 KARNATAKA Q 120427 312347 301183 242143 337239 V 1962.19 4737.23 4785.05 3440.57 5371.85 KERALAM Q 182430 218629 196807 179660 194224 V 6971.56 8285.03 7231.84 6941.36 8466.77 TAMIL NADU Q 114810 123157 134317 130315 152144 V 6559.64 6957.67 6854.22 7034.59 7660.48 ANDHRA PRADESH Q 324904 328160 347927 366182 409274 V 20035.49 19846.95 19420.38 21245.90 23765.11 TELANGANA Q 3102 6676 11758 11772 11458 V 156.91 358.39 565.10 615.42 715.02 ODISHA Q 86765 85308 84231 92169 100864 V 4627.91 4546.47 3954.60 4668.01 5431.95 WEST BENGAL Q 103398 125025 132318 114529 118337 V 4742.47 5121.33 4145.51 4321.07 5240.90 DELHI Q 766 1083 1294 609 410 V 39.00 63.61 79.84 40.52 27.48 OTHERS** Q 2507 8536 10058 5299 5306 V 35.64 111.47 118.46 79.54 103.80 TOTAL Q 1369264 1735286 1781602 1698170 1972018 V 57586.48 63969.14 60523.89 62408.45 73890.46 **Others include Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, Dam & Diu, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, and JharkhandAnnexure II Statement referred to in reply to part (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2723 put in by Shri Ganesh Singh, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha for answer on 04th August, 2026, regarding SEAFOOD EXPORT.

ITEM WISE EXPORT OF MARINE PRODUCTS (2021-22 TO 2025-26) Q: Quantity in M T, V: Value in Rs. Crore Item 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26

FROZEN Q: 728123 711099 716004 741529 7,92,647

SHRIMP V: 42706.04 43135.58 40013.54 43334.25 49037.93 Q: 226586 368549 381588 339692 3,55, 581 FROZEN FISH V: 3471.91 5503.18 5509.69 5212.12 5658.37

FR CUTTLE Q: 58992 54919 54316 59264 67157.00

FISH V: 2062.63 2353.34 2252.63 2394.26 2916.04 Q: 75750 83846 93509 90370 102060.00 FR SQUID V: 2806.09 3593.75 3061.46 3078.01 4493.80 Q: 73679 252918 300966 252948 4,10,410 DRIED ITEM V: 1472.98 3080.92 4070.60 2852.60 5079.09 Q: 7032 7824 7585 7054 8587.00 LIVE ITEMS V: 353.36 440.06 397.84 468.01 545.62 Q: 21689 24428 35925 18744 13057.00 CHILLED ITEMS V: 733.47 616.29 687.19 659.41 622.31 Q: 177414 231703 191709 188570 222520.00 OTHERS V: 3979.99 5246.03 4530.92 4409.80 5537.31 Q: 1369264 1735286 1781602 1698170 19,72,018 TOTAL V: 57586.14 63969.14 60523.89 62408.45 73890.46 *******