Tuna Export Hub in Andaman and Nicobar: Unlocking India’s Blue Economy Potential

The Indian government is keen on reorienting Andaman and Nicobar Islands as a major export center for tuna, tapping into the global tuna market worth $41.94 billion. This complies well with India's visions of harnessing its maritime resources to strengthen the blue economy, create sustainable livelihoods, and enhance exports.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, according to the estimates of the Fisheries Department, hold an unlocked annual tuna yield of 64,500 tonnes. This includes several species: 24,000 tonnes of yellowfin, 22,000 tonnes of skipjack, 500 tonnes of bigeye, and 18,000 tonnes of neritic. This has huge potential, but tuna fishery still lags behind others in the region mostly due to infrastructural weaknesses, less accessibility of highly developed fishing technology, and inefficient fish processing systems.

India exported 51,626 tonnes of tuna with a revenue of $87.96 million during the fiscal year 2023-24. The government recently organized an investors' meet in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It adopted a strategy for networking among the stakeholders of fisheries and aquaculture, discussing logistical bottlenecks, and strategizing ways to modernize the entire tuna supply chain. India will now look into the improvement of cold storage facilities and transport networks along with processing units for better competitive play in the global tuna market.

Strategically located in the Indian Ocean, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the second largest tuna producing area of the world contribute 21% to global tuna production, making the site even more promising as an export hub. An idea also finds a correlation with the overall vision of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana that aims to double the fisheries exports and promote sustainable aquaculture practices.

Relevance for Exams: All this would be interesting to the candidate - India's blue economy policies, the role of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in developing fisheries, tuna in international trade, and more. The key areas of interest include PMMSY, sustainable aquaculture initiatives, and challenges of scaling up India's fisheries sector.