U.S. banned Indian wild-caught shrimp, citing unregulated Indian fishing practices that it threatened endangered turtles; it claimed Indian mechanical trawlers were not using fishing nets equipped with devices that exclude turtles while fishing.
The Centre has identified Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Veraval in Gujarat to educate the fisherfolk on the importance of turtle excluder device (TED) and its impact on seafood trade with the U.S.
The ban (from November 2019) on the import of Indian wild-caught shrimp (IWS) in the U.S. is causing a loss of ₹1,500 crore to Andhra Pradesh and nearly ₹4,500 crore a year to the country. This is owing to the failure of the Indian seafood exporters and fisherfolk to comply with U.S. guidelines.
The U.S. banned IWS under Section 609 of US Public Law 101-162 citing unregulated Indian fishing practices that it said threatened endangered turtles. It considered that Indian mechanical trawlers were not using fishing nets equipped with TED to exclude turtles while fishing beyond eight nautical miles in Indian waters (eastern Bay of Bengal and western Arabian Sea). Around 30,000-odd motorised and mechanised boats in Andhra Pradesh alone do not have TEDs and are not following U.S. guidelines properly, fisheries officials say.
This has prompted the Centre to take the matter seriously and identify the two coastal cities to educate the fisherfolk.
The Centre’s Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and the States’ Fisheries department are working on spreading awareness on the implementation of TEDs. Both the bodies are drawing up plans to reach out to fisherfolk through a special drive.
Before the ban, the U.S. accounted for 20% of India’s total IWS exports. The ban also reduced the IWS unit value from $9.87 a kg to $5.68 a kg in other countries.