India Sees Record Seafood Exports Amid Global Challenges
India has made significant strides in seafood exports, achieving an impressive milestone by exporting 19,72,018 metric tonnes (MT) worth ₹73,890.46 crore (approximately USD 8.46 billion) during the fiscal year 2025-26. This marks a record high in both volume and monetary value, as reported by Shri P. Jawahar, IAS, the Chairman of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), despite the hurdles posed by challenging global market conditions.
Leading Markets and Products
The United States and China continued to be the top importers of Indian seafood in the said period. Notably, frozen shrimp emerged as the frontrunner in export categories, generating revenues of ₹49,037.93 crore (USD 5,624.48 million). This category constituted 40.19 percent of total export volume and an impressive 66.52 percent of total export earnings calculated in US dollars. In FY 2025-26, the export of shrimp exhibited a remarkable growth of 13.16 percent in rupee value and 8.64 percent in dollar value.
During this year, a total of 7,92,647 MT of frozen shrimp was exported. The United States accounted for the largest share, importing 2,56,128 MT, followed closely by China with 1,69,505 MT. Additional markets included the European Union with 1,35,599 MT, Southeast Asia with 83,810 MT, Japan with 40,776 MT, the Middle East with 30,478 MT, and other regions collectively importing 76,351 MT. Notably, exports of both _Litopenaeus vannamei_ and Black Tiger shrimp witnessed growth in both volume and value.
Diversified Seafood Exports
Frozen fish ranked as the second most exported seafood item, bringing in ₹5,658.37 crore (USD 643.70 million). Dried seafood products came in third, showing a positive growth of 78.05 percent in rupee values with exports amounting to ₹5,079.09 crore (USD 577.44 million). Exports of frozen squid amounted to 1,02,060 MT, generating ₹4,493.80 crore (USD 513.84 million). The frozen cuttlefish category also displayed significant growth, increasing by 13.32 percent in quantity and 16.25 percent in dollar terms to reach 67,157 MT valued at USD 331.96 million. Chilled seafood products contributed ₹622.31 crore (USD 71.27 million) and live seafood products registered a growth of 11.46 percent in dollar value terms at USD 62.43 million.
Market Trends and Future Outlook
In terms of market dynamics, the United States remained the leading importer of Indian seafood by value, with imports totaling ₹20,263.27 crore (USD 2,328.74 million) and a volume of 2,79,193 MT. However, imports from the United States exhibited a decline across various metrics, including a 10.82 percent decrease in rupee value and a 14.22 percent decline in dollar value, alongside a 19.51 percent drop in volume. Despite this, frozen shrimp still constituted a staggering 93.55 percent of India’s seafood export value to the U.S.
China, on the other hand, emerged as the largest destination in terms of volume, importing 4,90,369 MT valued at USD 1,611.32 million. The European Union, Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Middle East followed as significant markets, with respectively substantial import figures. The primary ports facilitating these seafood exports during FY 2025-26 were Visakhapatnam, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), and Kochi.
Observer Voice is the one stop site for National, International news, Sports, Editor’s Choice, Art/culture contents, Quotes and much more. We also cover historical contents. Historical contents includes World History, Indian History, and what happened today. The website also covers Entertainment across the India and World.
