India created history in seafood export, record export of Rs 72,000 crore, frozen shrimp became the biggest source of foreign earnings.
Delhi. Despite the decline in the US market, India’s seafood exports reached a record Rs 72,325.82 crore ($8.28 billion) in the financial year 2025-26. The main reason for this growth is the significant success achieved in efforts to export seafood to markets other than the US. According to the latest data of Seafood Products Export Development Authority (MPDA), the export of seafood products in terms of quantity reached 19.32 lakh tonnes in the year ending March 31, 2026.
This is being considered a major achievement amid the disruption in global markets. Frozen shrimp had a major contribution in this growth of exports. Its exports contributed Rs 47,973.13 crore (US$5.51 billion) during the year, which is more than two-thirds of the total export earnings. The quantity of shrimp consignment increased by 4.6 percent and the value by 6.35 percent. The US remained the largest export destination for India’s seafood products during the year with exports amounting to $2.32 billion.
During this period, however, due to the impact of increased duty against India, exports to America declined by 19.8 percent in quantity and 14.5 percent in value as compared to a year ago. The decline was offset by strong growth in alternative markets such as China, the EU and South-East Asian countries. Exports to China, the second largest export destination, increased by 22.7 percent in value and 20.1 percent in quantity. The European Union also recorded strong growth, where exports increased by 37.9 percent in value and 35.2 percent in volume.
There was also significant expansion in South-East Asia, where value and volume increased by more than 36.1 percent and 28.2 percent, respectively. Export value to Japan increased by 6.55 per cent, while exports to West Asia recorded a marginal decline of 0.55 per cent due to unrest in the region at the end of the financial year. Strong double-digit growth was recorded in many individual markets, reflecting a clear shift towards diversification amid trading challenges in traditional markets.
In terms of products, exports of frozen fish, squid, cuttlefish, dried foods and live products witnessed positive growth, while chilled products declined. Exports of surimi, fish meal and fish oil improved. In terms of logistics, the top five ports – Visakhapatnam, JNPT, Kochi, Kolkata and Chennai – accounted for about 64 per cent of the total export value.
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