Top sources in the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), however, feel exports would have been grown at a much faster rate if the industry was not hit by severe raw material scarcity. They feel the new exim policy is unlikely to ease the raw material bottleneck except for a couple of items like squid and cuttlefish as exporters are unlikely to import other items put under OGL because of their forbidding prices in the international market. However, MPEDA sees a much higher growth of seafood exports during the currentfinancial year.

According to provisional figures available, seafood exports grew at a rate of 12.66 per cent in rupee terms, and 11.1 per cent in dollar terms, during the financial year-ended March 31, 1998. The rupee value of exports had gone up to Rs 4,643 crore in 1997-98 compared to Rs 4,121 crore during the corresponding period previous year. In dollar terms, exports went up to $1,281 million up from $1,153 million registering a growth of just over 11 per cent during the same period.

However, the exports remained stagnant in quantity terms during 1997-98 compared to the previous year. The total exports of seafood stood at 3.79 lakh tonnes in 1997-98 compared to the 3.78 lakh tonnes during the previous fiscal.

Sources said a major factor that saved the year for seafood industry was the bullish demand from Japan, south-east Asia and US markets. Exports to these markets went up to Rs 3,162.97 crore in 1997-98 up from Rs 2,385.79 crore during the previous year. In percentage terms, the share of thesemarkets went up to 88 per cent in 1997-98 up from 78.14 per cent in the previous year.

However, exports to the European Union had registered an absolute decline of Rs 269.30 crore to 282.75 crore from Rs 552.05 crore during the same period. The share of EU declined from 18 per cent to 8 per cent during the period.

Industry sources said the seafood industry could beat the EU ban by a successful diversification of products to other destinations, mainly to the East Asian and US markets.