The Union government is likely to announce a subsidy scheme soon for installing turtle excluder devices (TEDs) in fishing nets. The move has been widely welcomed by the Indian seafood industry, which took a big hit six years ago when the US banned the import of wild-caught shrimp from India over concerns about accidental netting of sea turtles.

Seafood industry sources said on Tuesday (March 18), on the sidelines of a fisheries business meet organised by the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), that the Union ministry has given strong indications of the subsidy scheme to encourage fishermen to install TEDs.

The subsidy will be borne by the Union and State governments in a 60:40 ratio. The funds will go toward purchasing and installing TEDs developed by CIFT about two years ago. The device, approved by US agencies, costs approximately ₹25,000 per unit.

The ban on the import of Indian wild-caught shrimp has resulted in the seafood business in the country losing at least US$300 million a year. Wild-caught shrimp is a premium product though it forms a smaller portion of the total shrimp export from India.

India exported 17,81,602 tonnes of seafood worth US$7.38 billion (₹60,523.89 crore) during 2023-24, with frozen shrimp being the major export item. Frozen shrimp accounted for 40.19% in quantity and 66.12% of US dollar earnings.

Making a presentation on the problems and issues related to the seafood industry in India, K. N. Raghavan, Secretary General of the Seafood Exporters Association of India, said the country needed to catch up on value addition. He also called for an additional quarantine centre in India, as the country currently depends on a single quarantine centre.