A Jayathilak, chairman, Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has seen India becoming a leading exporter of shrimps in a short span of time, since 2010. State-run MPEDA offers a platform for various stakeholders to help chalk out a roadmap to fuel the growth of the marine export industry. Jayathilak spoke to Forbes India in Mangalore at the MPEDA Aqua Aquaria India 2017 exposition, which showcases the country’s latest strides in aquaculture and ornamental fishery. He talked about the potential for, and the importance of, farming the freshwater fish tilapia in India and the need to diversify commercial aquaculture beyond shrimps. Edited excerpts: Q. Indian shrimps are very popular across the world. How did that come about? It all started in 2009. During the global financial crisis, black tiger shrimps, which India exported, became uncompetitive in terms of pricing compared with white shrimps. Simultaneously, black tiger shrimps farmed in Southeast Asia were affected by disease. We therefore gradually shifted to the farming of white shrimps, also known as Litopenaeus vannamei. Since 2010, the growth in this variety has been spectacular and we have crossed $5 billion worth of exports this year. The white shrimps carry high value with minimal risk. Today 80 percent of the exports of marine products from India are vannamei. On all parameters, we are doing well but we are putting all our eggs in one basket. And that is a problem. Q. Why is it a problem? The attractiveness of farming white shrimps has prompted farmers to move away from farming other aquatic animals. Whenever a new species is introduced, vannamei remains the gold standard. If I can’t make more money from other species I’m better off farming vannamei. Another reason is that there is an established infrastructure in farming white shrimps and the technical know-how is easily available. In value terms, India has been the largest exporter of shrimps in the world for the last five years. We are also the second largest producer. Almost 25 percent of our exports go to the US. There is a huge demand for vannamei and it is growing exponentially. But the worrying part is that we are dependent on just one species. We have to diversify. We are now working hard to communicate the business prospects of other species of aquatic animals as well.