Surinder Sud: Fishing for food security

Boosting fish production can help India alleviate nutritional deficiency in a big way

The green revolution has largely mitigated food security concerns even though flawed distribution and food inflation keep a section of the population underfed. However, nutritional security still eludes most people, including many of those who eat enough cereal.

Much of this nutritional deficiency is the result of an insufficient intake or the consumption of poor-quality protein. Food scientists believe that promoting fish consumption can play a key role in alleviating protein deficiency and consolidating nutritional security.

It is worth noting that fishery production has, in any case, been growing much faster than foodgrain output. Most of the increase has come from inland fisheries, aquaculture or farmed fisheries, with an output (around 4.3 million tonnes) that exceeds that of marine fisheries (3 million tonnes). Equally significantly, the overall fish catch from the seas has almost stopped growing, but inland fisheries maintain a healthy annual growth of nearly 6 per cent.

According to Dr B Meenakumari, deputy director-general (fisheries) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the stagnation of marine fishing is the result of irresponsible fishing and over-exploitation of coastal marine resources. Even tiny and underdeveloped fish, which ought not to be caught, are not spared. There are no restrictions on the number of fishing vessels that can operate in the oceans. As a result, too many fishing boats scout for increasingly meagre resources.

Wild catch from the rivers and other inland water bodies are also declining largely because of mismanagement, poor upkeep of ponds and degradation in the quality of water in river systems from pollutants. The silver lining, however, is that cultured fish farming is growing fast thanks to the availability of better aquaculture technology. If the current trend of aquaculture production is sustained, the country’s projected fish demand of 12 million tonnes in ten years will be met.

Nutritionally, fish is far superior to other vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods. Meenakumari reckons fish protein as unique because of its excellent nutritive value, high digestibility and the presence of all essential amino acids in the desired proportion.

Plants-based foodstuffs do not offer all essential amino acids in a single source. Legumes (pulses) lack methionine, a crucial amino acid, and cereals generally do not have enough lysine, another key amino acid. Besides, the digestibility of the protein of most species of fish is more than 90 per cent, far higher than that of the proteins from other sources.

For those facing the risk of heart ailments from high cholesterol or blood pressure, fish and its products are of immense value. Research studies worldwide have endorsed the benefits of fish oils in case of heart diseases. It has been found that the fish oils do not have any impact on the low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad cholesterol), but they do enhance the high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or good cholesterol). This increase could be up to 10 per cent.

Besides, fish fats are known also to prevent the aggregation of platelets in the blood, lessening the risk of heart problems. This apart, global studies have also indicated a modest drop in blood pressure following the intake of fish oil from people suffering from high blood pressure.

Fish consumption also reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s among the elderly. Those who eat fish at least once a week have a 50 per cent lower chances of suffering from this disease.

Given such far-reaching health benefits of fish and its products, promoting fisheries should be a vital part of the overall strategy to improve nutritional security. The increased availability of fish and fish products, moreover, will help stabilise their prices, making them affordable for common people.

Luckily, a good deal of indigenous technology for boosting productivity of fresh and brackish water fisheries has already been generated by the country’s scientists. The need is to capitalise on this technology to bring about a fisheries revolution.

surinder.sud@gmail.com