Seafood exports declined by 3.6% year-on-year in April to $170 million, on account of less demand from its main markets like Europe and Japan.
The exports stood at $177 million in April last fiscal, according to the figures released by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).
"There is a slowdown in demand from the Japanese market due to the recent earthquake and tsunami," an MPEDA official said.
Of the country's total marine exports, Europe accounts for 26%, followed by Japan (20%) and the US (17%).
During 2010-11, marine exports grew by an impressive 25.5% to $2.6 billion in 2010-11 compared to the previous fiscal, on account of improved shipments to Europe and Japan.
India's marine exports include black tiger shrimp, fresh water prawn shrimp, frozen versatile fish, frozen skip jack and frozen squid and the consignments are mostly from Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.