In a major attempt that would pave the way for boosting India`s seafood trade, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CMFRI), the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and the Fishery Survey of India (FSI) have jointly launched a research cruise for assessing the marine mammal population in the exclusive economic zone here on Wednesday.

The cruise mission was flagged off by MPEDA chairman K S Srinivas and others.