Marine pisciculture stands at 35.83 lakh tonnes

Keywords: Marine, Marine Fish Production, EEZ, Fish Production, ICAR

The Dollar Business Bureau

India’s marine fish production during the last four years stood at 35.83 lakh tonnes (Provisional). In 2015-16 35.83 lakh tonnes (Provisional); 36.55 lakh tonnes (Provisional) in 2014-15; 34.39 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 and 33.20 lakh tonnes in 2012-13, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

The potential yield for the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is estimated to be around 44.12 lakh tonnes last fiscal.  

The variations in marine fish production were attributed to various factors including changes in fishing gear dimensions, climate change, high fishing pressure, over capacity and pollution.

MoS for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said in Lok Sabha on Tuesday that “Deep-sea fishing vessels (DSFVs) in the Exclusive Economic Zone are only allowed to carry out resource-specific fishing beyond 12 nautical miles from the territorial limits.”

“Apprehensions of local fishing community, regarding poor fish yield in territorial waters due to operation of these DSFVs are largely unsubstantiated, as the areas of operation as well as targeted resources are different in case of DSFVs and the local traditional fishing communities,” he said. 

Last July, the government had constituted a committee under the chairmanship of S Ayyappan, former Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to ascertain the current status of exploitation of marine fishery resources by several sectors, such as deep-sea fishing vessels, mechanised boats sector and traditional sector.

The agenda was also to consult stakeholders for drafting a National Policy on Marine Fisheries for the development of marine fisheries in India.