Rs 3,000-crore plan to give fisheries a boost

An umbrella scheme for integrated development and management of fisheries was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Tuesday. The outlay would be Rs 3,000 crore for five years.

The government had initiated a Blue Revolution, aimed at boosting annual growth in the fisheries sector to six-eight per cent in the 12 Five-Year Plan against four per cent in the 11th Plan. The scheme would cover development and management of inland fisheries, aquaculture, marine fisheries, including deep-sea fishing, mariculture and all activities undertaken by the National Fisheries Development Board, an official statement said here. Creating a Geographical Information System for both inland as well as marine fisheries was also on the cards. These components would be implemented by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, which has been endowed full central funding.

Fisheries, classified as a sunrise sector, covers about 14.50 million people and had export earnings of Rs 33,441 crore in 2014-15 ($5.51 billion). Total production was 10 million tonnes in 2014-15.

Besides increasing fish production at the primary level, the scheme would stimulate growth of subsidiary and allied industries and other related economic activities, especially in the coastal regions, leading to many direct and indirect benefits.

India has attained the status of the second largest fish producing and second largest aquaculture nation in the world.
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