MoS George Kurian should help recover lost sheen of Kerala's shrimp business

Kerala is one of the worst affected states due to the US ban on shrimp exports. The West imposed a ban on shrimp exports in 2019 with the aim of sea turtle conservation. The ban is still ongoing and India is bearing the brunt by losing about Rs 2500 crore in seafood exports annually.

In Kerala, shrimp processing and export is the sector that many fishermen rely on. A few shrimp export establishments in Kochi have been closed due to the crisis while many traditional shrimp farmers are still on strike. The state government fighting the ban will be a futile exercise but a diplomatic effort from the central government could do wonders.

Not only Kerala, states like Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Gujarat are actively engaged in shrimp farming and export. Andhra accounts for 40 per cent of shrimp exports. So a big bloc of states should join hands to beseech the central government to move diplomatically and end the crisis.

Moreover, compared to other countries, the United States paid the best price for Indian shrimp. America used to import 300 million dollars worth of shrimp every year. 60 per cent of these were from Kerala. There is no scientific basis for the US allegation that sea trawling is causing the extinction of sea turtles in India. In Kerala and Andhra, shrimps are mostly farmed in shrimp farms and are not caught from sea or riverbeds.

So far India has not been able to wheedle the US to lift the ban imposed on shrimp exports. Thread nets are used to help turtles caught along with shrimps, to escape back into the sea but the US alleges these nets lack international standards. Union Ministry of Fisheries should devise measures to import such nets and distribute them with subsidy. Union Minister of State for Fisheries George Kurian stated that the Central Government will intervene to withdraw the ban on the export of shrimps.

After the sea turtle, there have been reports that the US is trying to ban all marine products from India in the name of mammal protection. Apart from shrimp, India also exports crab, juniper, prawn, tuna, tilapia and other fish variants to the US.

If all this is stopped, the seafood export industry in India will collapse. Experts are casting doubt on some anti-Indian lobbies behind the move. Releasing the adverse effect inflicted by the ban, the state has decided to send a delegation to Delhi to apprise the matter with the central government.