Does India Really Need to Export Fish: Reflections and Upshots

The paper has studied the status of fish food security in India — production across sectors, export growth — analysing price realization in the domestic and export markets. The study has derived macro-economic estimates using primary and secondary data on fish production, consumption, distribution and exports on a spatio-temporal platform. The study has revealed that contrary to the classic demand theory, the willingness to pay a higher price does exist among the urban consumers. The decomposition analysis has indicated that export value realization is primarily due to “quantity effect” not by “price effect”. The price comparison of exported fish species has indicated higher prices in domestic than export market. The study has revealed significant deleterious fish demand-supply mismatch in domestic market and has advocated for government interventions in regulating fish exports. The paper has suggested adoption of concerted efforts for augmenting domestic fish consumption of high-value fishes through conducting awareness programmes for the masses.