'State's fish production growth among highest'

Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have registered a higher compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in fish production than other coastal states in India in recent times, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).

Andhra Pradesh, which accounts for 16 per cent of the country’s fish production (1.35 million tonne) had recorded about 8 per cent growth annually, while in Karnataka it grew 11.48 per cent in the five-year period to about 500,000 tonne in 2010-11, an Assocham release said on Wednesday.

However, the CAGR for other leading fish-producing coastal states has been 4.85 per cent for West Bengal, 4.47 per cent for Tamil Nadu, 3.37 per cent for Gujarat and 3.25 per cent for Odisha between 2004-05 and 2008-09, it said.

 

Interestingly, non-coastal state of Haryana had registered the highest growth rate of 14.7 per cent in fish production followed by Chattishgarh (11.29 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (7.05 per cent), the industry body said.

During the same time, fish production in Kerala and Maharashtra had come down to 682,000 tonne and 582,000 tonne from 866,000 tonne and 596,000 tonne respectively in 2008-09, according to the release from Assocham.

Goa registered a negative CAGR of 33 per cent to about 94,000 tonne from 990,000 tonne in 2004-05, mainly on account of over exploitation, according Assocham said.

The industry body said that fish production in India was rising at a CAGR of about five per cent and was likely to cross 10.4 million tonne by 2015 from the current 9.1 million tonne. The country is the second-largest fish producer in the world after China, and accounts for nearly six per cent of the global fish production of about 180 million, it said.

With 8,100 kilometre of marine coastline, 4 million hectare of reservoirs and 2 million hectare of brackish water, the captured fish accounts for about 70 per cent of the country’s total production, according to the release.