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India rejects report on abusive conditions at shrimp hatcheries

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India rejects report on abusive conditions at shrimp hatcheries

  • India, the biggest supplier of shrimp, U.S.’s favourite seafood, has strongly refuted allegations of human rights and environmental abuses raised by a Chicago-based human rights group.

Key highlights

  • In 2022-23, India’s seafood exports stood at $8.09 billion, or ₹64,000 crore, and shrimps accounted for a bulk of these exports at $5.6 billion.
  • India has emerged as one of the world’s largest shrimp exporters and its share in the U.S. market has risen from 21%, to 40% in 2022-23, far ahead of rivals such as Thailand, China, Vietnam, and Ecuador.
  • The entire value chain for India’s shrimp exports is certified by the Marine Products Export Development Authority and there is no scope for such concerns about overseas shipments.
  • State: About a lakh shrimp farms in Andhra Pradesh alone account for almost 70% of India’s shrimp output.
  • Women participation: Women are reckoned to account for 70% of the eight million-odd jobs in the sector, including two lakh in hatcheries and aquaculture farms, and the rest in processing and freezing units.
  • The Ministry is likely to advise exporters to commission independent studies on the working conditions at shrimp farms to dispel the concerns in major markets like the U.S. and the EU.

SAIME initiative

  • Under Sustainable Aquaculture In Mangrove Ecosystem (SAIME) initiative, farmers have taken up cultivation of shrimp at 30 hectares in West Bengal.
  • The mangrove ecosystem is integrated with shrimp cultivation, but when fisheries were expanded inwards, the mangrove ecosystem was excluded.
  • Fishing, particularly shrimp cultivation, is one of the key occupations of the people of Sundarbans, which is a complex network of rivers and low-lying islands that face a tide surge twice a day.

Prelims Takeaway

  • Shrimp cultivation
  • Blue economy

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