India has not only been able to meet the fish demand for domestic need but also has been able to add substantially to the foreign exchange earnings through export of fish and fisheries products. This year, India became the second largest fish producing country in the world. Fisheries, which is an important sub-sector of Indian agriculture is dependent on the country’s rich marine and inland water resources. The scheme Blue Revolution’ has been launched with the outlay of Rs 300 crore for the integrated development of the Fisheries sector in the country. The overall fish production registers an increase of approximately 18.86% in comparison to the last three years & inland fisheries sector registers a growth of 26%. Combining the production of all types of fisheries (capture and culture), the total fish production in the country reached about 11.41 million tonnes in 2016-17.
The main aim of Blue Revolution Scheme is to increase the fish production and productivity to up to 8% annual growth rate and to produce 15 million tonnes of fish by 2020. This scheme will contribute significantly to achieving the targets of doubling the income of farmers and fishermen by 2022. Under this scheme, it is proposed to achieve full production capacity and increase the fish productivity from the aquatic resources and aquaculture in both inland and marine sectors.
While addressing the function of World Fisheries Day’ celebration on Tuesday, Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh said that the previously implemented Letter of Permit or L.O.P. system in the E.E.E. has been stopped since January 2017. Besides, specific decisions have been taken to safeguard the interests of traditional fishermen in the area of EEZ beyond 12 nautical miles, which is regulated by the Government of India. He said traditional fishers have been exempted from the fishing ban implemented during monsoon period while the duration of the fishing ban has also been increased from 47 days to 61 days, with the consent of all coastal State Governments.
About 1.5 crore people in the country are employed in the fisheries sector for their livelihood. The vast aquatic resources in the country provide more opportunities and potential for further development in fisheries sector. In the last decade, where the average annual growth rate of fish and fish products was recorded at 7.5%, India remained the first place with an average annual growth rate of 14.8%. More than 25% of the world’s protein diet is obtained by fish, and that the human population consumes more than 100 million metric tonnes of fish per year in the form of food.
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