India’s seafood exporters expect that exports will grow over 20 percent in FY18 after sales figures touched an all-time high of $5.78 billion in FY17 when USA imported 1,88,617 tons of Indian seafood — a growth of 22.72 percent in quantity from the previous year.
“With exports to U.S. setting new records and the markets’ rising appetite, the industry [in India] is confident of a strong [export] growth for Indian shrimps,” said Rahul Kulkarni, director, WestCoast Group, a leading seafood exporter from India.
Business Standard reports that India’s exporters are pinning hopes on growth in exports with the adoption of the Vannamei or Pacific White variety of shrimp in recent years over the Black Tiger. “The area brought under Vannamei cultivation is on the rise in states like Odisha and West Bengal. There is also emergence of demands from new countries like Canada and Australia,” said G. Mohanty, an Odisha-based exporter.
