Marine products worth about $620mn were exported through Chennai Port in FY26, as per latest data from Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under the Union ministry of commerce and industry. While the port accounted for more than 7% of India’s seafood exports, handling 1,10,967 tonnes and ranking fifth among major ports, industry representatives believe Tamil Nadu’s vast coastline and rich marine resources position it for stronger growth.Chairman of CII Southern Region Ravichandran Purushothaman said TN has yet to fully capitalise on its marine wealth. “About $620mn worth of seafood is exported through Chennai alone. Impressive, but far below what a state with a 1,076-km coastline and some of Asia’s richest marine resources should be achieving. The White Revolution created a powerful brand in Amul. The blue revolution offers an opportunity to build a similar success story for seafood—that can take India’s marine products to global markets,” he said.Advocating a policy push for solar-powered refrigeration, Purushothaman said TN should set up a dedicated seafood export promotion council with industry participation and clear, measurable targets. He also called for the creation of skill-certification programmes aligned with HACCP and European Union hygiene standards to improve export competitiveness. “TN must treat seafood as a growth sector, build the institutional framework to unlock its full potential,” he said.Purushothaman, who is also president of Chennai-headquartered Danfoss India, a global player in energy-efficient solutions, said the company works with farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and industry bodies to strengthen cold-chain infra and capabilities in seafood. “TN has sunshine, a long coastline and strong export potential. With the right refrigeration tech and industry partnerships, the state can emerge as a leading seafood export hub,” he said.TN was among the pioneers of commercial aquaculture in India when the sector took off in the 1980s. However, Andhra Pradesh has established itself as the India’s leading seafood-exporting state. To regain momentum, TN last year set an ambitious target of raising seafood exports to $5bn, nearly ten times the $457mn worth of marine products exported in FY25. Export earnings have remained volatile in recent years, standing at $484mn in FY24, compared with $577mn in FY23 and $561mn in FY22. The state exports marine products, including dried fish, chilled fish, live fish, and frozen seafood such as shrimp, finfish, cuttlefish and squid. Shrimp is the largest seafood export both from TN and across India. MPEDA data show frozen shrimp accounted for more than 40% of seafood exports by quantity during FY26.In a bid to enhance Pacific white shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) production for exports and make it a more attractive sector for farmers, the ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) has developed a super-intensive precision and natural shrimp farming (SIPNSF) technology. The facility is operational at its experimental station in Muttukadu on ECR, Chennai, in collaboration with the National Fisheries Development Board under the Union ministry of fisheries.According to Kuldeep K Lal, Director, ICAR-CIBA, the SIPNSF facility produces higher shrimp yields in limited space and time. “Shrimp yield is six to eight tonnes per acre. Last month, we demonstrated that the yield can be increased to 55 tonnes per hectare per crop in our SIPNSF facility, which is nine times higher than the traditional method. The most important aspect is that we do not use any chemical inputs, relying only on feed, seed, water and air. Shrimps need only a good environment and natural food. Shrimp harvested in our facility meets all global standards for quality seafood exports,” he said.ICAR-CIBA has tied up with the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation (TAHDCO), under which aquaculture facilities can be created. It has also developed an indigenous shrimp larval feed, a vital input that can reduce feed costs and dependence on imports. A production unit to manufacture the indigenous feed on a commercial scale is being established in the state in partnership with the private sector.Lal further said ICAR-CIBA has completed a responsible aquaculture zone planning (RAZP) exercise to identify potential areas for aquaculture. The exercise, which began in Tamil Nadu, found that 9,268 hectares of land are currently under aquaculture in the state and that the area could be expanded to 30,000 hectares in a phased manner.To reduce dependence on imported broodstock, ICAR-CIBA has developed a nuclear breeding facility and undertaken genetic improvement of indigenous Indian white shrimp at its Kovalam experimental station under PMMSY support.United Economic Forum president Ahmed Buhari said TN has tremendous opportunities in the blue economy. “Seafood exports can play a role in the state becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2030 and scaling up to a $1.5 trillion economy by 2035. R&D is the need of the hour. As far as TN govt is concerned, all relevant departments and stakeholders, including fisheries, industries, finance and the pollution control board, should come together to frame a joint strategy for ease of doing business in this sector,” he said.Rajamanohar Somasundaram, Founder and CEO of Aquaconnect, a Chennai-based seafood technology company, said Tamil Nadu should focus on value-added seafood exports such as ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products, as they can generate more than three times the revenue.“A sizable volume of India’s seafood exports goes to the US. Against this backdrop, the free trade agreements (FTAs) with Australia, the UAE, and more recently with the European Union and the UK open doors to new markets and product categories in the seafood sector, which Tamil Nadu can capitalise on,” he said.
