Andhra Pradesh has emerged as a key driver in India’s record seafood exports, achieving a total of USD 7.38 billion (Rs 60,523 crore) in the financial year 2023-24. The state contributed around 32 per cent of the total shipments, solidifying its position as a leader in the marine products sector.
Despite facing global economic challenges, India’s marine exports reached an all-time high, as reported by D.V. Swamy, Chairman of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA). This year’s performance surpassed the previous year’s exports of 17,35,286 metric tonnes valued at Rs 63,969 crore. “Frozen shrimp continued to be the star product, with 7,16,004 MT exported during 2023-24. Andhra Pradesh farmers supplied the lion’s share catering to key markets like the USA, China, European Union, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East,” highlighted A. Jeyabal, MPEDA’s Joint Director for the Andhra region.
In addition to shrimp, the state also exported a variety of other seafood including frozen fish, squid, cuttlefish, octopus, lobsters, and dried fish items to countries such as Japan, Canada, Thailand, Belgium, and Spain. The USA remained India’s largest seafood export destination at USD 2.55 billion (34.53 per cent), followed by China at USD 1.38 billion (25.33 per cent) and Japan at USD 447 million (6.06 per cent), with frozen shrimp being the primary Japanese import. Jeyabal stated that MPEDA is actively training aqua farmers to produce quality shrimp and value-added seafood products, which have high overseas demand. “Value-addition will also generate more employment opportunities in the state. We recently facilitated training by Vietnamese experts for young entrepreneurs and are focused on conducting more such workshops”.
The stellar export performance highlights Andhra Pradesh’s prowess in the global seafood trade and bodes well for the state’s efforts to further bolster its marine exports.
Source: Knn