Inland fish production too affected by NE monsoon failure

The failure of the North East monsoon in Tamil Nadu last year has not spared the fisheries sector too, with the state witnessing a steep decline in inland fish production.
Fisheries department statistics put inland fish production reduced from 2.42 lakh tonnes in 2015-16 to 1.97 lakh tonnes the next year.
"The failure of north east monsoon during 2016 resulted in scarcity of water in all water bodies which affected inland fish production of the state," it said.
The failure of northeast monsoon, besides the scanty rainfall received in the earlier southwest monsoon also, had resulted in an unprecedented drought, with the government declaring all 32 districts as 'drought-hit.'

Tamil Nadu had 3.83 lakh hectares of "effective" inland water resources, which included reservoirs, major and minor irrigation tanks, ponds and short seasonal tanks, Fisheries department said.
The potential of inland fisheries sector was estimated at 4.50 lakh tonnes during normal rainfall, it added.

It said the state's total fish production in 2016-17 was about 6.69 lakh tonnes and that about 79,400 tonnes of marine products worth Rs 3,914 crore were exported.
Marine fish production was an estimated 4.72 lakh tons, it added.
The department was also taking up a slew of initiatives to benefit fishermen, including those affected by the Sri Lankan Navy by way of apprehension.

"During the year 2017-18, Rs 286 crore has been allocated as subsidy assistance for construction of 500 Deep Sea Tuna long liners cum gill netters. In this scheme, priority will be given to fishermen who were affected by the Sri Lankan navy," it said.
In this scheme, the Centre will contribute Rs 200 crore while the rest will be the state's share.
Fishermen will also get 70 per cent subsidy assistance for diversification of trawl fishing boats of Palk Bay into deep sea fishing boats.
The Centre will contribute 50 per cent while the state will share 20 per cent, the Fisheries department added.

Further, the World Bank has sanctioned Rs 321.30 crore for implementing various initiatives,including improvements to civil infrastructure under Coastal Disaster Risk Reduction Project (CDRRP), it said.