Covid-19 keeps seafood exporters in a bind as orders dry up in key markets

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has disconcerted Indian seafood exporters, who have been selling $7 billion worth seafood every year in the overseas market.

Shipments to the US, India’s largest market for marine food, are down by over 50 per cent since the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown. With annual export volumes of 280,000 tonnes, India is the largest shrimp supplier to America, with a 40 per cent share of the latter’s imports by volumes. Also, no fresh orders are forthcoming from other key markets like EU (European Union), Vietnam and Japan while Spain has stopped procurement, a