Govt looks to promote sustainable fishery on Ganges basin

Promoting sustainable fishery on the Ganges basin, one of the largest in the world, is the need of the hour, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today on the occasion of the World Fisheries Day.

He also emphasised on shifting focus from fishery in coastal states to inland resources in order to increase India's overall fish production from the current level of over 10 million tonnes and export earnings of Rs 33,441 crore.

"India is second after China in fish production in the world. However, there are potential areas where production can be strengthened further. There are opportunities to promote fishery beyond coastal states. There is scope to promote sustainable fishery on the Ganges basis," Singh said at an event organised to commemorate the World Fisheries Day.

Inland fishery can be developed on the river basin of the Ganga, which flows from the Himalayas through different cities and towns, he suggested.

Although India has inland fishery resources for a fish production of 15 million tonnes, the actual production was 6.58 million tonnes in 2014-15, he added.

Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Animal Husbandry and Fishery Department Secretary Ashok Kumar Angurana and ICAR Director General S Ayyappan spoke about promoting inland fishery and adoption of good management practices for higher production.

According to the National Fisheries Development Board, inland fishery is growing in a big way in Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam and Meghalaya.

On growth potential of the fishery sector, Singh further said India's fish production, currently growing at 5 per cent, can increase to 8 per cent by harnessing opportunities in the inland fishery sector.

"It is expected that a growth rate of about 8 per cent can be achieved in the land sector. Future demand for fish and fishery products has to be mostly sourced from acquaculture and culture-based capture fisheries at reservoirs," he said.

Keeping in view the growth potential of the sector, Singh said the Centre has merged all the existing schemes and has proposed to formulate an umbrella one called 'Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries' with an outlay of Rs 3,000 crore.

This umbrella scheme will cover inland fisheries, acquaculture, marine fisheries, including deep sea fishing and other activities undertaken by the National Fisheries Development Board, towards realising the Blue Revolution, he said.

Stating that the government aims to harness all possibilities for intensive and integrated development of the fishery sector, Singh said, "Providing nutritious food and gainful employment are the foremost challenges in the country today. Through fisheries, these requirements can be fulfilled."

He said the government is providing required financial support to farmers, fishermen and entrepreneurs connected with fisheries through various ongoing schemes.