The fisheries sector has great importance in the economic development of India. At an annual production volume of 7 Million tonnes, the sector contributes 1.07% of GDP and 5.4% of agricultural GDP. The Sector is growing at 4.5% and earns foreign exchange worth 7555 crores and accounts 14% of our agricultural exports. Marine Fisheries alone involves the livelihood of 3 million people. Growth in Aquaculture has also been quite impressive in last 28 years, the sector grew 800%, from 0.37 million tonnes to 3.37 million tonnes.
At the same time we are concerned about the sustainability and environmental impact on seas and coast line, bio-diversity loss and the need for low pollution technologies called clean mechanisms in the fisheries sector. We are also now aware that there has to be an optimization between the volume, growth and sustainability of the marine and inland ecosystem. We need to take care not to lead to loss of species, as a result of fishing operations.
With production from capture fisheries already reaching maximum sustainable levels, it is time to enhance the bio-mass through alternative approaches such as open sea cage farming, use of fish aggregating devices (FAD’s), artificial reefs etc. Candidate species such as shrimps, oysters, crabs, lobsters, sea cucumbers and seaweeds are important in this context. Productivity enhancement has have also been successfully launched as demonstrated by installation of Fish Aggregate Devices (FAD’s) in many places alongwith east coast.
The livelihood of the coastal fishing community plays a significant role in the successful implementation of any marine fisheries management measures. The lack of economic security among the stakeholders often leads to indiscriminate harvest of the fishery resources resulting in irreparable damage to the fishery sector. Management measures to reduce the fishing pressure in the seas should be developed in close consultation with stakeholders and should be implemented in letter and spirit for the larger benefit of the sector and those dependant upon it for their livelihoods. Several states are effectively implementing the Marine Fisheries Regulations and the new international Codes of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.
The scope for increasing fish production is enormous through freshwater aquaculture. With only 40% of available cultivable water area under aquaculture, the country today has been able to produce as much as 3.22 million tonnes with average productivity of tanks and ponds of about 2.5 tonnes per hectare per year. By increasing the coverage of water area and aiming at higher productivity, it is projected that the total production from the freshwater aquaculture sector could be about 5.3 million tonnes in next five years. Thus, all states and union territories should bring in more and more water bodies under aquaculture practices and also to increase the productivity of water bodies through scientific management and inputs, of course with equal emphasis on our environment, equity and bio-diversity.
Ornamental and Brackish water fisheries also holds much promise. We have developed only 13% of Potential Water area under Brackish aquaculture. High value species like crabs, seabass, Tiger prawns etc. can be harvested here.
Our domestic market is vast and diverse, and much needs to be done to tap it. Bulk of our fish is consumed fresh and at or near the source of production. Therefore, the issues with regard to setting up effective forward linkages such as cold chains etc. are extremely critical. States are required to pay close attention to this issue. The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) would provide necessary professional and financial support to the State Governments and other bodies.
Developing forward linkages like marketing chains and cold chain networks is crucial to getting right value to the fishermen and entrepreneurs. Only by exposing and training fishermen in market presence can the transfer of value to the primary producers achieved. We need to focus our efforts here.
I will be extremely keen to get critical feed back from the various states represented here on the developments in the Fisheries Sector in their States. The implementation of various Centrally sponsored and assisted projects in the state, the development of fishing harbours, marketing points, inland fisheries, fishermen welfare, ornamental fisheries etc. may be discussed. I would request states also to report the difficulties they face, if any, in implementing our schemes as well as their state level schemes. I hope that our learning today will go a long way in improving our understanding of the sector and give a fillip to our efforts in 2010.
I wish you all a very Happy working year and success in 2010.
JAI HIND
