Find Fisheries expertise in India
- Overview of the industry
- Fishery bodies
Fisheries together with agriculture and forestry contribute 19% to India’s GDP (2008). Fisheries is an important sector in terms of food security and work, employing about 15 million people, nearly nine million of whom are engaged in the primary sector with a further 1 million part-time fishermen, and four million in secondary industries (2003). India has a shelf area of 0.53 million km, an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of over 2 million km, and a coastline of 8,118 km.
The sector can be divided into three main sectors, namely marine, inland and aquaculture. For the marine fisheries, about 75% of fishers are from coastal areas, where about 60% of catch was taken from the west coast and about 40% from the east coast. The marine catch profile is about 52% pelagic species including the Indian oil sardine, Indian mackerel and anchovies. Shrimp remains the most important demersal resource due to its export potential. I
India’s inland fisheries contribute about 13% to total fish production practised in India’s extensive fresh water bodies including 195,210km of rivers, 2.9 million hectares of reservoirs, and 2.4 million hectares of ponds and lakes. India ranks second worldwide, second only to Japan in inland capture and aquaculture production.
Governmental initiatives have helped turn the fisheries, especially the aquaculture subsector, into a major industry where carp accounts for over 80% of farmed fish, and fresh water prawn are also an important species.
India’s approach to sustainability is largely shaped by the country’s membership to the Convention on Biological Diversity and Biosafety protocol, which requires the regulation of cross boarder movement of live aquatic organisms, and the protection of endangered marine species. The Coastal Aquaculture authority (CAA) was established under the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005. The main objective of the Authority is to regulate coastal aquaculture activities in coastal areas in order to endure sustainable development without causing damage to the coastal environment. National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) was set up in September, 2006, which aims to assist in the realization of the untapped potential of fisheries sector in inland and marine fish capture, culture, processing and marketing of fish, as well as the overall growth of fisheries sector.
The sector is managed by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the Ministry of Agriculture.
Fisheries organisations in India | |
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Ministry of Environment and Forests |
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