Shrimp exports from India to the US drop sharply

Shrimp exports to the US from India has almost come to a standstill since the past two months, causing widespread concern in India.

According to the Indian Seafood Exporters Association President, A J Tharakan, since February this year very little exports were going to US. “We are waiting for the investigations regarding the anti-dumping duties to be over. The quantum of duty will be known once the preliminary investigations are over by June’, he said.

The shrimp farmers are a worried lot as they would be hard hit if the exports to US completely stops. “There will be no buyers for our products, the prices have come down sharply already,” Charles, a shrimp farmer, said.

Unlike in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, where shrimp farming is done in enormous barren wastelands converted into farms, in Kerala the farming is mainly done on paddy fields converted into shrimp farms on the fringes of backwaters.

Hoping to cash in on the growing demand for shrimp in markets abroad, many farmers in Kerala had converted uneconomical paddy fields into farms by taking them on lease.

According to Rajan P Mambaly, who has given his land for lease to shrimp farmers, the duty will truly hit the farmers hard. If the exporters are forced to pay the anti-dumping duty, they would reduce the remuneration of the farmers from whom the shrimp is bought, he said.

According to Joseph Xavier, Kerala Boat owners association General Secretary, with the exports to US almost nil in the past two months, the shrimp catch has been reduced by 40 to 45%. Prawns, Squids, Cuttlefish were part of the export basket to US, he said.

The price of white shrimp, which was Rs 280 per kg, until a few months ago, has sharply fallen to Rs 100 now, while another variety of prawns has dipped to Rs 40 per kg from Rs 80, he added.

India and other countries have strongly protested against any move by the US to impose any duty which will affect the shrimp farmers and exporters.

IEPORT Daily News May 1, 2004