Just when India’s seafood industry appeared to have cracked the code for sustained export growth, a new challenge has surfaced from an unexpected quarter. Over the past year, the sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience, overcoming punishing US tariffs, diversifying into new markets and posting record export earnings. The government is now openly talking about taking seafood exports to $30 billion within five years, a 2.5 times growth. Yet, as exports gather momentum, rising rejection rates linked to banned antibiotic residues in shrimp threaten to undermine the very international trust that helped fuel the industry's recovery. This situation highlights that expanding market access is only half the battle, and maintaining quality standards is the other half.
From tariff shock to export success story
