India’s Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has launched a research project for developing an online platform to enable more efficient buying and selling of seafood products countrywide.

Beginning in October 2019, price ranges for around 150 species of seafood will be provided on the newly-developed platform, with data further delineated by geographic location, size, freshness, and condition.

The pilot will cover 50 markets in the southern Indian state of Kerala, with the state-run agency planning to scale up to 500 fish markets in seven coastal states in the first full phase of the project, and up to 1,500 markets countrywide – including landing centers, wholesale markets, retail markets, and aquaculture production markets – in the second phase of the project.

The project is being designed “to facilitate a e-auctioning system fish trade platform for commercially important fish species” in order to benefit fish producers, consumers, traders, and processors in the country, CMFRI said.

The project is funded by the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad.

India produced 3.49 million metric tons of seafood in 2018, down 9 percent from 2017.