VIJAYAWADA: The State government has established an Aquaculture Advisory Committee to address the mounting challenges in the aquaculture sector, particularly the 26% reciprocal tariff imposed by the United States on seafood imports.
The decision, formalised through GO No. 128 issued by the Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Department on Wednesday, follows a detailed discussion led by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on April 7 with key stakeholders, department officials, and representatives from the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and Export Inspection Agency (EIA).
The Commissioner of Fisheries highlighted the need for a dedicated committee to study and monitor the crisis in a letter dated April 8.
After a three-hour deliberation, the government constituted the 16-member committee, comprising processors, exporters, farmers, hatchery representatives, and government officials. Those in the committee include K Anand of Welcome Fisheries, N Venkat of Nekkanti Sea Foods, and G Sekhar Babu, CEO of AP Food Processing Society, alongside other industry and government representatives.
It has been tasked with submitting a preliminary report within five days, assessing the impact of the US tariffs, and proposing short-term solutions. A comprehensive report detailing medium- and long-term strategies for a sustainable aquaculture ecosystem is due within three weeks.
Its terms of reference include conducting a comparative study of shrimp production and exports between India and Ecuador with MPEDA’s assistance, exploring alternative export markets like the EU, China and Japan, and promoting domestic shrimp consumption through innovative measures such as forming a National Prawn Coordination Committee (NPCC), akin to the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC).
Further directives include strategies to shift Andhra Pradesh processors from frozen to value-added products like ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook shrimp, establishing a Regulatory Partnership Agreement with the US, similar to Ecuador’s, and ensuring antibiotic-free products.
The committee will also explore dynamic feed pricing, reduced import duties on feed raw materials, and a cluster-based approach with geotagging, branding, and certification.
Additionally, it will represent India’s case on tariff disparities to the Centre, launch domestic marketing campaign featuring VVIPs and celebrities, and propose a corpus fund for emergency support to stakeholders. The Commissioner has been instructed to take further action to facilitate the committee’s work.