Kochi, Oct 15 : A landmark scientific assessment by the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has helped India secure uninterrupted access for its seafood exports to the US market, the institute's scientists said.

The US recently recognised Indian seafood as compliant with its stringent Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), removing a major regulatory hurdle for the sector.

The clearance followed the CMFRI's comprehensive nationwide stock assessment of marine mammals across India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The study provided critical evidence that Indian fishing practices operate within sustainable limits.

Based on these findings, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the US acknowledged India's mitigation measures, vessel monitoring systems, and licensing frameworks as comparable to American standards.

The project, undertaken in collaboration with the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and the Fishery Survey of India (FSI), marked the first time India generated robust abundance and bycatch estimates of marine mammals.

Covering 18 species ' including the blue whale, sperm whale, dolphins and porpoises ' the study confirmed that marine mammal stocks in Indian waters are healthy.

A key part of the research involved estimating Potential Biological Removal (PBR), which indicates sustainable incidental catch limits.

This was compared with field-level data gathered from over 8,000 fishermen.

The results showed that actual bycatch levels were well below the permissible threshold, affirming India's sustainable fishing practices.

The US had earlier required all seafood-exporting nations to prove scientifically that their fisheries did not cause unsustainable harm to marine mammals ' a condition that had cast uncertainty over India's seafood trade.

The CMFRI responded by initiating a large-scale, vessel-based stock assessment using internationally accepted line-transect methods to cover the country's entire EEZ.

Acknowledging this progress, the US report cited India's scientific and regulatory measures as evidence of a strong framework to monitor and mitigate bycatch.

"CMFRI's research formed the scientific foundation for India's submission of the Comparability Finding Analysis (CFA), playing a crucial role in safeguarding a multi-billion-dollar trade and averting a potential export ban," said Dr Ratheesh Kumar Raveendran, Principal Investigator of the 'Marine Mammal Stock Assessment in India' project.

The CMFRI will continue its marine mammal monitoring to support sustainability and ensure compliance with international trade requirements, he added.

/IANS