ABSTRACT
The world fi sh production has almost stagnated and presently stands at a little more than 14 million metric tonnes (MMT) (FAO, 2010). This can be seen by the considerably lower changes in production fi gures in the last 5 yr (Table 10.1). Fish processing in general is an economic activity that generates considerable foreign exchange to a maritime nation. For instance, Indian seafood exports in 2008 stood at about US $ 1908 billion with the total quantities of seafood exported being 602,835 MMT (MPEDA, 2010). Major aquatic products that dominate the export market come from the marine sector (both culture and capture). The major marine foods that are exported include shrimps, molluscs (squids, cuttle fi shes, octopuses, oysters, mussels and clams) and fi n fi shes (tuna, seer, pomfret, etc.) mainly in frozen form. Apart from this processed marine products like surimi, canned products and ready-to-eat fi sh products are also exported.
