Parliament Question: Role of MPEDA in Strengthening India’s Marine Exports

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4044 ANSWERED ON 17/03/2026 ROLE OF MPEDA IN STRENGTHENING INDIA’S MARINE EXPORTS 4044. SHRI DUSHYANT SINGH: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री) be pleased to state: (a) the role played by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) in enhancing India’s marine exports, along with the details of export trends in terms of quantity and value during the last five years; (b) the details of marine fish production and exports, including contributions from inland fisheries, aquaculture and offshore fishing, State-wise; (c) whether steps have been taken to identify State-specific high-value species to diversify exports and reduce dependence on a single dominant species, if so, the details thereof; (d) the future outlook for India’s marine exports in view of recently concluded and ongoing trade agreements with the EU, EFTA, Oman, UAE, US, UK and New Zealand; and (e) whether measures have been initiated to promote sustainable fishing practices, improve traceability and reduce the carbon footprint of the fisheries sector to address emerging trade measures such as possible expansion of carbon border adjustment mechanisms to fisheries, if so, the details thereof?” ANSWER वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्यमंत्री (श्री णिणिन प्रसाद) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a): The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), a statutory body under the Department of Commerce, Government of India, is mandated to promote the export of Indian marine products, including shrimp, prawn, lobster, crab, fish, shellfish and other aquatic products. MPEDA is responsible for regulating marine product exports, ensuring quality standards and promoting sustainable seafood exports. It is empowered to conduct inspections, set standards and specifications, provide training and support overseas marketing of Indian seafood. As the nodal agency for the development of the seafood export sector, the major activities undertaken by MPEDA include Market Promotion, Quality Control, Trade Facilitation, Infrastructure Development and Value Addition, Aquaculture Development for strengthening supply chain, Collaboration and Institutional Coordination, providing training and capacity building, technology adoption and innovation. During FY 2024–25, India exported about 1.69 million tonnes of marine products, valued at approximately USD 7.45 billion (Source: MPEDA), with frozen shrimp accounting for about 69% of export value. The remaining export volume comprises other marine products such as squid, cuttlefish, surimi-based products, and fishmeal. 1The details of export trends in terms of quantity and value during the last five years is as given below: Year Quantity (MT) Value Value (₹ Crore) (US$ Million) 2020–21 11,49,510 43,720.98 5,956.93 2021–22 13,69,264 57,586.48 7,759.58 2022–23 17,35,286 63,969.14 8,094.31 2023–24 17,81,602 60,523.89 7,381.89 2024–25 16,98,170 62,408.45 7,453.73 (Source: MPEDA) (b): The State-wise export details for the last five years (Aquaculture & Wild-caught) are provided as Annexure I. (c): Steps taken to identify State-specific high value species to diversify exports and reduce dependence on a single dominant species include efforts made with states to promote diversification, strengthen state-level collaboration for technology transfer and capacity building and establishing an effective network among fisheries officials for sustainable knowledge and technical exchange. MPEDA promotes diversified aquaculture, covering high-value species such as seabass, cobia, pompano, mud crab, GIF tilapia & Scampi. Further, RGCA, the Technology Transfer wing of MPEDA, has standardized the breeding and rearing techniques for commercially important species, which has the potential to enhance the productivity and sustainability of aquaculture in India. Also, RGCA, for the development of diversified aquaculture, is operating various facilities through which it provides technical support to the stakeholders and seed supply. (d): The future outlook for India’s marine exports is positive with the recently concluded and ongoing trade agreements with the EU, EFTA, Oman, UAE, US, UK and New Zealand. The strategies being adopted to strengthen India’s position in the global seafood trade include promoting expansion of value-added seafood processing, strengthening the cold chain and logistics infrastructure to reduce post-harvest losses, improving traceability and compliance systems to address non-tariff barriers, diversifying export markets and leveraging FTAs to reduce dependence on a few major destinations, enhancing branding and promotion of Indian seafood products in global markets through various measures including fair participations and trade delegations, promoting diversification of aquaculture species beyond shrimp to enhance raw material availability for processing. With respect to exports to the United States (US), the government is continuously engaging with its counterparts in US to ensure continued access to US market at competitive terms. (e) Measures initiated to promote sustainable fishing practices, improve traceability and reduce the carbon footprint of the fisheries sector to address emerging trade measures such as possible expansion of carbon border adjustment mechanisms to fisheries is given as Annexure II. ***** 2Annexure referred to in reply to Part (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4044 for answer on 17.03.2026 Annexure I State-wise export details during the last five years (Aquaculture & Wild caught) are given below in separate tables: STATE-WISE EXPORT DETAILS OF AQUACULTURE Q: Quantity in M T, V: Value in Rs. Crore, $: Value in US Dollar Million 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Q 9237 6607 8896 9465 14777 GUJARAT V 514.21 417.50 538.48 474.74 612.94 $ 70.12 56.71 67.21 57.76 73.34 Q 29550 59285 59655 56859 57368 MAHARASHTRA V 1480.11 3334.01 3384.00 3011.67 3085.58 $ 201.36 453.24 427.91 367.25 369.16 Q 3911 3439 3811 4817 1781 GOA V 177.35 183.01 184.31 204.30 71.52 $ 24.15 24.87 23.28 24.94 8.62 Q 703 2045 1427 2416 3923 KARNATAKA V 25.83 90.25 67.96 94.08 168.85 $ 3.47 12.28 8.58 11.49 20.05 Q 43042 57680 49131 44293 40964 KERALA V 2379.32 3050.75 2858.36 2657.83 2590.03 $ 323.88 421.49 368.53 324.11 309.27 Q 75701 79000 77814 80574 80221 TAMIL NADU V 4304.86 5019.32 5114.03 4896.88 5176.84 $ 586.11 684.08 647.19 597.17 618.09 Q 266624 312932 305401 325641 349642 ANDHRA PRADESH V 15292.15 19569.10 19342.85 18861.47 20796.37 $ 2081.04 2657.67 2449.18 2301.15 2483.08 Q 0 2332 6213 10671 10243 TELANGANA V 0.00 129.41 338.97 516.03 558.51 $ 0.00 17.54 42.72 63.04 66.63 Q 57363 83047 80456 80139 88627 ODISHA V 2957.59 4476.85 4322.25 3798.40 4532.15 $ 402.09 615.92 554.44 463.52 541.86 Q 43731 57708 63930 55063 54980 WEST BENGAL V 2512.91 3355.71 3788.54 2979.70 3199.48 $ 341.75 467.25 490.61 363.77 383.42 Q 0 748 1083 1292 585 DELHI V 0.00 37.14 63.61 79.72 39.04 $ 0.00 5.04 7.96 9.70 4.70 Q 0 75 1121 752 319 OTHERS V 0.00 0.71 11.63 6.87 7.56 $ 0.00 0.09 1.46 0.85 0.91 TOTAL Q 529862 664900 658937 671982 703429 3V 29644.33 39663.76 40014.99 37581.71 40838.85 $ 4033.96 5416.18 5089.07 4584.76 4879.12 (Source: MPEDA) STATE-WISE EXPORT DETAILS OF WILD CAUGHT Q: Quantity in M T, V: Value in Rs. Crore, $: Value in US Dollar Million 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Q 194680 193492 239967 274623 267381 GUJARAT V 3674.31 4003.61 4928.46 5036.61 5276.36 $ 501.97 542.36 618.00 613.84 629.41 Q 81272 134714 154513 165594 170498 MAHARASHTRA V 2204.83 3969.91 4082.47 3911.67 4257.80 $ 301.50 482.53 513.59 476.89 507.26 Q 12638 32618 59523 50350 43688 GOA V 257.90 547.63 823.29 729.90 717.29 $ 35.32 74.16 102.66 88.84 85.71 Q 120645 118381 310921 298767 238221 KARNATAKA V 1663.31 1871.94 4669.27 4690.96 3271.72 $ 227.66 253.99 581.64 571.82 390.73 Q 114656 124750 169499 152514 138696 KERALA V 3243.80 3920.81 5426.67 4574.01 4351.33 $ 442.88 536.68 684.19 557.94 520.15 Q 34322 35809 45343 53743 50094 TAMIL NADU V 1260.62 1540.32 1843.64 1957.34 1857.75 $ 171.94 208.84 231.84 238.87 222.02 Q 13368 11972 22759 22286 16540 ANDHRA PREDESH V 539.59 466.40 504.10 558.91 449.53 $ 73.51 63.29 63.81 68.18 53.68 Q 0 771 463 1086 1529 TELANGANA V 0.00 27.50 19.42 49.06 56.91 $ 0.00 3.73 2.42 5.98 6.82 Q 3355 3717 4852 4092 3541 ODISHA V 150.08 151.05 224.22 156.20 135.86 $ 20.37 20.45 28.02 19.03 16.18 Q 44712 45691 61095 77255 59549 WEST BENGAL V 1082.21 1386.76 1332.79 1165.81 1121.60 $ 147.83 152.42 166.61 142.08 133.88 Q 0 18 0 2 24 DELHI V 0.00 1.86 0.00 0.11 1.47 $ 0.00 0.25 0.00 0.01 0.18 Q 0 2432 7415 9306 4980 OTHERS V 0.00 34.93 99.84 111.59 71.98 $ 0.00 4.71 12.46 13.65 8.60 Q 619648 704364 1076349 1109620 994741 TOTAL V 14076.65 17922.72 23954.16 22942.18 21569.60 $ 1922.97 2343.40 3005.24 2797.13 2574.61 (Source: MPEDA) 4Annexure referred to in reply to Part (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4044 for answer on 17.03.2026 Annexure II Measures initiated to promote sustainable fishing practices, improve traceability and reduce the carbon footprint of the fisheries sector to address emerging trade measures such as possible expansion of carbon border adjustment mechanisms to fisheries is given as below: i. Export Traceability and Regulation of IUU Fishing To ensure traceability and regulate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, MPEDA issues various Export Facilitation Certificates, including the Catch Certificate, Japan Catch Documentation Scheme (JCDS), ICCAT certificates, DS 2031, Certificate of Legal Origin for Chile, and Non-Radioactive Certificates for exports to high-value markets. MPEDA has also developed an online platform for validation of these certificates to ensure compliance with international market requirements and to facilitate smooth export procedures. ii. Sustainable Fishing and Turtle Excluder Device (TED) Implementation To meet sustainability requirements of the United States, MPEDA, with technical support from US-NOAA and ICAR-CIFT, modified the Turtle Excluder Device (TED) design to comply with US standards. Based on MPEDA’s recommendation, the Department of Fisheries (DoF) issued notifications for the enforcement of TED use across coastal States. Installation of TEDs on trawlers is now supported under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) with financial assistance of ₹23,485 per TED, enabling India to meet US sustainability requirements. iii. Compliance with the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) To comply with the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), MPEDA submitted the Comparability Finding Application (CFA) to US-NOAA on 25 November 2021, supported by scientific studies from Fishery Survey of India (FSI), ICAR-CMFRI, and NETFISH. Based on these submissions, the US recognized 14 Indian export fisheries as comparable, allowing the export of wild-caught marine products (excluding wild- caught shrimp) to the US market from 1st January 2026. iv. Strengthening Fisheries Governance Following MPEDA’s initiatives, several coastal States have initiated amendments to their Marine Fishing Regulation Acts to incorporate provisions for sustainable fishing and improved fisheries management. v. Promotion of Sustainable Aquaculture – NaCSA The National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA), a society under MPEDA, promotes sustainable and responsible aquaculture practices across the country. Under this initiative, five farmer societies have been selected as NaCSA Clusters of Excellence (NaCE) to serve as model clusters demonstrating best aquaculture practices on a pilot scale. vi. Advanced Technological Transformation in Aquaculture (ATTA) MPEDA has implemented the Advanced Technological Transformation in Aquaculture (ATTA) scheme to modernise existing aquaculture units. The scheme supports the adoption of advanced technologies to improve productivity, sustainability, and compliance with international quality and safety standards. vii. Digital Traceability System – Aqua Trace MPEDA has developed Aqua Trace, a mobile and web-based traceability system that enables aquaculture farmers to self-enrol and map farms using drone and satellite imagery. The enrolment IDs are linked to certification systems and the mandatory Pre- Harvest Test (PHT) scheme required for exports to the EU and UK, ensuring traceability and compliance with international market requirements. 5viii. Promotion of Seaweed farming MPEDA collaborates with Govt. of Tamil Nadu and other private entrepreneurs to promote seaweed farming in India, which has the potential to sustain the carbon ecosystem of the marine environment, besides providing alternate livelihood to small and artisanal fishers. The seaweed products are also in high demand in both domestic and international markets. ***** 6