Rising Domestic Demand For Fish Cuts Into Exports.

Consumption of fish in India is increasing significantly due to life style changes and higher cost of meat, officials of Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) said. “Increase in domestic demand and inability of the sector to increase supply is putting pressure on the export sector,” Anwar Hashim, national president of SEAI noted.

“Meat prices have risen in the past few years, prompting more people to try fish,” he said. Perception of fish as a healthy food with high levels of digestible protein, PUFA and cholesterol lowering capability is also a major factor for the increasing consumption.

Domestic demand is putting pressure on the price of fish and affecting the export sector considerably, he added.

Hashim says that the domestic availability of fish is not rising with growing demand. National Fisheries Development Board projections show that share of fish demand is estimated at 60% for domestic consumption, 7% for exports and 33% for other purposes.

The projected demand for fish by 2012 is 9.74 million tonne, that can be met by the projected supply of 9.60 million tonne by 2012 with major share of 5.34 million tonne from inland aquaculture followed by 3.10 million tonne from marine fisheries.

According to a report by NFDB, the marine capture fisheries are showing a stagnating trend. Increase in catch has to come from alternative sources such as deep-sea fisheries, aquaculture from freshwater and brakishwater resources, reservoirs and mariculture.

“The global demand for fish is growing tremendously and India lags behind in productivity. We have to increase the productivity of our farms through intensified operations or import. This will help to achieve better capacity utilisation and value added exports,” Anwar Hashim said.

According to an International Institute for Sustainable Development report, barely 5% of India’s seafood exports are in the processed form.

Most exports are in the form of frozen fish. In addition, the Indian brand does not exist in northern markets. In fact, more than 60% of India’s exports to Southeast Asia are re-exported after processing.

Source : financialexpress.com