Concerned over the dismal performance of the national policy on marine fisheries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government has decided to review it and introduce a new legislation.
“A committee under the chairmanship of DG, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), is seeking the inputs from stakeholders. The new policy will ensure all-round development of fishery sector in the country,” said Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh.
“Marine fishery is the fastest growing food producing sector in the world with a great potential to meet the food requirement, especially protein, of a large number of population. And with an annual growth rate of above 7 per cent, India is the second largest producer of fish from aquaculture in the world,” Singh said, while addressing a consultative committee of the Agriculture Ministry in Varanasi on Friday.
Underling the importance of fresh water aquaculture, the minister said that the species diversification in recent years had led the to development of technology of breeding and hatchery management of several important species for fresh water aquaculture.
“The establishment of ‘brood bank’ for commercially important species at Bhubaneswar by the Nation Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) is expected to ensure production and supply of certified broods to hatcheries in the country. The cage culture in reservoirs has picked up very well in recent years,” Singh said.
The feasibility of inland saline aquaculture in Haryana, Punjab and UP has opened up the scope for bringing land unfit for agriculture under economic use. To augment the production of freshwater aquaculture, guidelines have been issued for regulating the culture of Tilapia as well as Pangasius species and also for Shrimp species L vannamei.