Odisha Exported Sea-Food Worth Rs 4,526 Cr In FY 2021-22, Says Minister

Bhubaneswar: Odisha has exported 86,481 ton of sea-food worth Rs 4,526 crore in financial year 2021-22, said Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Ranendra Pratap Swain on Thursday.

Speaking at a workshop on Odisha seafood export at Bhubaneswar, Swain said the state has witnessed a 12-fold increase in sea-food export in the last 20 years. Odisha has a huge potential to augment exports of sea-food due to resources in terms of coastline and brackish water area and the state government is planning manifold growth in sector, he added.

“Odisha occupies 4th place in the country in terms of aquaculture production and produces 10.60 lakh ton of fish annually, contributing around 2.7% of the state GSVA. There is a four-fold increase in total fish production in the last one decade,” said the Minister.

Swain also focused on value addition of seafood as it will fetch good market in Western countries. He also advised chilled seafood export by air to nearby markets like Middle East, West Asia and East Asia. He further emphasised on deep sea fishing along the coast and high value fishes like Tuna.

Speaking on the occasion, Balasore MLA Swarup Kumar Das called for a roadmap to achieve the targeted export value. Sudhansu Sekhar Parida, Remuna MLA said Odisha Fisheries Policy 2015 helped immensely in the growth of fisheries sector in the state. Suresh Kumar Vashishth, principal secretary, Fisheries and ARD department also spoke.

In the technical session, Scientists from ICAR and other institutions, officials from Marine Products Export Development Authority and different government departments and leading exporters shared their views on various aspects of seafood export. Smruti Ranjan Pradhan, Director, Fisheries and other senior officials and exporters participated in the workshop.