Vol. 26 No.

1 ~~ Fishing Chimes p~ April 2006

Fisheries Research
s.
and Development in IndiaAyyappan and A.D. Diwan
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
Indian Council of Agricultural Research
Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan - II, Pusa, New Delhi - 110 012
E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

The fisheries sector of India is Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. two decades. The present fish
immensely contributing to the Reservoirs constitute the single production from r eservoirs is
economy of the country. It provides largest inland fishery resource. estimated at 0.94 lakh tonnes. with
valuable fore ign exchange an d both in terms of r esource size and over 79% contributed of small
employment to millions of people. productive potential. A detailed reservoirs. followed by large (14%)
At the same time it is an study made by FAO in 1995 has and medium (7%) reservoirs. At the
instrument of livelihood for a large estimated a total of 19.370 present level of management and
section of economically backward reservoirs in the country with a u tilizatio n , reservoirs yield an
population of the country. More total area of 3.15 million ha. average of 20 kg / ha/year. which is
than 7 million fishers in the country far below the potential. Though
Indian floodplain lakes (0.24
depend on capture fisheries and much higher per ha fish production
million hal are primarily a
aquaculture for their livelihood. is possible, even a moderate
contin u um of rivers Ganga and
Indian fisheries are an important increase of 100 kg/ha for small and
Brahmaputra. These are mainly
component of the g lobal fisheries. 50 kg / ha for medium and large
located in the States of Assam.
with India being the fourth largest reservoirs can prOvide an additional
West Bengal. Bihar and Uttar
producer of fish in the world and increment of 1.65 lakh to ones of
Pradesh . They occupy an important
second in Inland fish production. fish (Valued at Rs. 49.50 lakh @ Rs.
position in inland fisheries of India,
India's share in the world 's fish 30 1 - per kg). Therefore. reservoirs
because of their magnitude. their
production has increased from 3.2% are one of the most potential
production potential and as they
In 1981 to 4.5% at present. Fishery fisheries resource for future
serve as breeding and nursing
sector occupies an important place fisheries deve l opment of India.
ground for riverine fish stock.
in the socio-economic development Scientific management of these
These water bodies are extremely
of the country. Fish production in waters through selection of right
rich in nutrients. The floodplain
the country has been showing an species and stocking. stock
wetlands are lying uncared for and
increasing trend and has reached a manipulation . fishery regulations.
are in the process of swampificatton.
record level of 6.4 million tonnes. harvesting schedules, adoption of
These are capable of yielding one
pen and cage culture technologies,
RESEARCH AND D EVELOPMENT tonne of fish per ha on an average.
and development of package of
SUPPORT if subjected to scientific
p ractices for different categories of
management. Therefore, a vast
Inland F isheries reservOirs would help in increasing
untapped production potential is yet
the fish productton from these water
The inland capture fishery to be h arnessed In floodplain
bodies.
resources comprise rivers and wetlands.
canals. est u aries. floodplains Indian up land fishery waters
The estuarine systems (2.7
~etlands, lagoons and reservoirs include rivers (8.253 km). natural
million hal are identified as an
and this sector holds enormous lakes (21.900 hal and reservoirs
important source of fish and shrimp
production potential to meet the (29.700 hal. The capture fisheries
seed. These are vital for fisheries
inland fish requirement of the of these waters are poorly
of both riverine and marine sectors.
country. The river system of the developed. These are characterized
The exploited fisheries of estuaIies
country comprises 14 major rivers by low primary productivity of
in India are above subsistence level
(catchments >20.000 km ' ). 44 resources. slow growth rate of fish.
with average yield swaying between
medium rivers (catchments 2,000 to ineffiCient fishing practices and
45 to 75 kg/ha/year.
20.000 km' ) and innumerable small inaccessibility of fishing sites.
rive r s and desert streams. The post -independence period
Different river systems of the has witnessed commissioning of a
Marine Fisheries
country. having a combined length number of small. medium and large The marine fishe r ies resources
of 29.000 km. provide one of the river valley projects leading to of the country are in terms of 8.129
richest fish genetic resource.s in the creation of a chain of impoundments km long coastline. 0.5 million sq.
wor ld. The floodplain lakes are in the form of reservoirs. With km of continental shelf and 2.02
primarily continuum of rivers Ganga present day magnitude of 3.15 m illion sq. km of exclusive
and Brahmaputra. These are in the million hat reservoirs fo r m the economic zone . Contributed by
form of oxbow-lakes (Mauns. ehaurs. most important inland open water m ajor fish specfes like oil sardine.
Jheels. Beels as they are called fishery resource of our country. The mackerel. Bombay duck. pomfrets,
locally). especially in the States of area under reservoirs is expected shrimp. the catches have gone up
Assam, Manip~r, West Bengal, to reach 6.0 million ha in another from 0.53 millIon toones in 1951 to ~
 J . ~6 1\10. 1 :~ Fishing Chimes ~_ April 2006
2 .99 million tonnes in 2004. The commercial uses . These include 0.827 million ha beelsfjheels/
fish production from the open seas several microorganisms , algal derelict water bodies and 3.15
has been stagnating since the last forms, and invertebrates, that could million ha of r eservoirs . The
decade and marine fisheries are serve as- potential sources of present contribution of 3 .5 million
still restricted to the near shore bioactive substances including tonnes from these resources are
areas. Against the estimated antimicrobials, anaesthetics, hardly com m e nsura te with their
potential of 3.9 million to""es, the anticarcinogens. etc. as well a vastness and offer the scope for
sector has already reached the 2.99 wealth of valuable genetic material realising more production with the
million tonnes mark, ~us leaving for transgenics and thus it presents available technologies in the
a balance resource of around one a huge opportunity for both Food country.
million tonnes, in deeper waters and Drugs froro the seas.
There i s a wide scope for
and oceanic zone. Identification of suitable sites
increasing fish production through
along the Indian coastline of over
Marine capture fisheries play a aquaculture and by utilizing the
8000 km, hatcheries and grow-out
vital role in India's economy. The available reservoir areas. W.ith only
systems for finfish, shellfish and
sector provides employment and 40% of available cultivable water
other organisms, possibilities of
income to nearly two million people. area under aquculture , the average
cage culture in island eeo-systems
The growth in marine fish productivity of tanks and ponds is
are the s tr ategies for realizing
production during 1950s and 1970s 2.2 tonnes/ha/year in FFDA ponds.
these potentials.
has been faster as compared to the By increasing the coverage of wa!er
inland fisheries. However. in 1980s Research thrusts in the next five area and the prodUl:tivity of existing
and 1990s, the trend has been years pertain to studies in the waters by 50%, the total production
revers ed, as the marine ' fish shelf, s lope and oceanic realms of .from the aquaculture sector could
production has been slow as the EEZ to assess and map the be doubled. Thus, the thrust has
compared to the inland fisheries. resource potential, upgradation of to be on bringing more and more
During the last decade (1990s) the mariculture technologies , socio- water bodies under aquaculture
marine fish production has reached techno-economic aspects of marine practices and also to increase the
a plateau. The present scenario fisheri es and brackish water productivity of water bodies through
suggests tha t the current level of aquaculture, design and fabrication scientific management and inputs.
marine fish production from the of modern fuel-efficient fishing Indian aquaculture is mainly
exploited zone has to be sustained vessels, development of cost- dominated by major carps that
by closely monitoring the landings effective and responsible fish account for around 80% of the total
i and the fishing effort and by strictly harvesting systems, diversification inland fish production. There are a
implementing the scientific and v'aIue addition for utilization of number of potential finfish and
management measures. low value fish, quality assurance shellfish species, catfishes ,
and management systems. prawns , ornamental fishes, etc.
To fish those resources for
suitable for different agro-clima tic
increasing fi sh production from the Culture Fisheries
conditions and can be brought under
marine sector, the industry needs Freshwater Aquaculture: The the aquaculture practices. There is
ocean-going vessels and share of inland fishery sector, which scope fo r achieving production
sophisticated on-board facilities was 29% in 1951, has gone up to levels of 6 to 8 tonnesfha/year in
which are capital-intensive. The m ore than 50% in 2003-04, several parts of the country. Such
strategies proposed for marine indicating increasing contribution of potentials need to be harnessed in
fisheries management are: inl and sector to the total fish order to increase the overall
regulated and diversified fishing, production. Further, it is ' production from the aquaculture
targeting the under-exploited and significant that aquaculture sector through intensification of
non-conventional resources of the production has increased cultural practices.
EEZ, identification of potential tr e m endous ly during the last
fishing zones, stock enhance.ment decade. Coldwater fishery resources
Consequently, the
through sea ranching, installation percentage share of aquaculture in encompass high and mid altitude
of fish aggregating devices and total inland fish production is lakes, rivers, streams and man-
a rtifi cial r eefs, community based estimated to be about 75-80%. Two made reservoirs. According to
resource management, responsible specific aqua-produces, carps and' conservative estimates, the riverine
fishing including closed seasons prawns in freshwater aquaculture stream length holding cold water
an~ mesh regulations, assessment and s hrimp s in brackishwater fisheries in the two mountainous
arid exploitation of resources aquaculture. have contributed to zones trained by th e Indus and its
avai lable a r ound islands and the bulk as well as value of the tributaries, Jhelum, Chenab , Ravi ,
infrastructural support in terms of inland aquaculture sector. Beas, Satluj , Bhagirathi and
Alaknanda are about 7,000 km. The
deep sea vessels, on-board and on-
Freshwater Aquaculture approximate fishable streams
shore facilities.
resources of the country have been length of hill streams on North
The marine environment estimated to be of the order of 6.23 West and eastern Himalayas has
provides an immense biodiversity million ha, of which 2.25 million ha been es tim ated as 3,200 km.
that is being catalogued for are in the form of ponds/tanks, Further, there are a large number

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Vol. 26 No, 1 _~ Fishing Chimes ~ Apnl2006

of natural lakes located in the 1991 to 1,15,000 tonnes in 2003. and second to China in the inland
uplands of Jammu & Kashmir, This contributes to the bulk of the fish production with a total fish
Himachal Pradesh, Utta ranchal, Indian shrimp exports. The major production of 6.4 million tannes.
Arunachal Pradesh a nd Sikkim. constraints in the development of Around ten million people are
These natural eco-tops are virtually coastal aquaculture are engaged in fisheries and ancillary
dotted all over the hilly terrain of diversification of candidate species activities. The per capita
the s e States and th ey hold rich suitable for differ e nt saline consumption of fish is around 9 kg.
ic hthyo fauna of both commercial conditions, developme nt of disease The projections by the end of X Plan
and sport fishes. free broodsto c k of finfi s h and for total fish production are based
shellfish, developm e nt of on the assumption of 8% growth
While there exists a vast scope rate in the inland sector and 2.5%
h atche ries for seed production,
for development of co ldwater growth rate in the marine sector
health and hygiene in the
fi s h e ries both on grounds of with an average growth rate of 5 .5%
h a t c heries and culture system and
logi stics and economics, these and with a total production potential
development of quality feed which
r eso urces have largely r e m a ined of 8.4 million metric tannes.
n eed to be a ddressed by
untappe d mainly due to lack of
und e rtaking rese arc h a nd To manags- the available vast
development and scientific efforts.
development activities. resources and achieve the
The current fishing activities in the
hills are limited to fishing/ angling The country has around eight envisaged ta rgets of bridging the gap
by individual fishermen in the rivers million hectares of inla nd saline between production and the
and streams, and are h ardly of any soils which are not very suitable for potential, Fisheries Division of the
commercial importance . other enterprises and can be a leAR has undertaken a number of
potential resource for a quaculture R&D programmes. The aquaculture
The s uccessful e volvement of in our country is mainly dominated
activities . The technologies for
technology of commercial Rainbow by the Indian major carps which
utilizing such sub-soil ground
Trout Farming in Jammu & Kashmir account for 80% of the total inland
waters for c ulture practices h ave
and Himachal Pradesh has opened fish production . There are a
already been demonstrated.
tremendous potential in exploiting number of potential high value
Utilisation of these water bodies for
various hilly rivers and streams finfish and shellfish species,
fish culture would help the country
fiowin g in foothills of Hima layas, catfishes , prawns, ornamental
in moving forward to achieve the
Similarly, successful Running water fishes, e tc , which are suitable for
fish production targets in the next
Fish Culture Programme being different agrq-climatic condition s
decad e,
carried out by monoc ulture of mirror and can be brought under
carp in the hill States h as given a Mariculture: Maric ulture is aquaculture practices . The
n ew impetus to the aqu aculture expected to be a major activity in technology for seed production and
promotion programme in the the coastal areas in th e years to culture of such high value species
uplands, The expansion of both come. Given the wide spectrum of have been developed by the
th ese programme could go a long cultivable species and technologies fisherie s research institutes a nd
way not only in boo sting fish available, the long coastline an d the efforts are being made to propagate
production in the Himalayan States favourable climate, mariculture is these technologies among the
but also in the generation of large like ly to generate con s idera ble farmin g co mmunity so that the
scale employment for hill interes t amongst th e coastal average income of the farme r will
inhabitants, popula t ion . At a time when we be enhanced. [n marine sector, for
Coastal Aquaculture: Coastal speak of over-exploitation in the augmenting fish production from
Aquaculture production in the near- shore waters, limited access seas, a series of programmes such
country is· large.ly on . account of to capture fisheries and the need as managing the exploited stock to
shrimp fanning. It is estim ated that, for dive rsification, mariculture can realize sustainable yield through
out o f a bout 1, 23 . million. ha b e one of t he most appropriate regulation, responsible fishing a nd
identified as potenti·~ l are~s" fo~ alte rn a tives. Technologies for a fisheries m a na gement, exploiting
bracki s hwater fish farming in the · couple of species a r e prese ntly and mon itoring the deep sea fishery
country, about 10% area is being available in the country and there resources, diversification of fi shing
farmed at present. Of this area, is an urgent need for developing a activities, installation of Art ificial
a b out 8 0% is under trad itional package of practices for many more Reefs (AR) and Fish Aggrega ting
farming systems and the remaining commercially important species: Devices (FAD), stock enhancement
is un der extensive a nd semi- Growth of the Fisheries Sector through sea-ranching, increasing
extensive shrimp farmin g. At production through sea farming and
present, about 300 shrimp The Fisheries Sector contributes coastal mariculture h a ve been
hatcherie s are operational with a around 1.1% to the total GOP, around taken up , To achieve targeted
tota l production capacity of 12 4.7% to the GOP fr o m the growth of 5,5 % and increasing the
billion post-larvae (PL 20)/year, agriculture sector and over Rs . returns with fish farming and fisher
mostly in the p r va t e s ector. The 6,000/- cro res to th e export community, the following issues are
farmed shrimp' produ c tion has earnings. India ranks fourth in the being addressed through various
increased from / 40,OOO tonnes in total fish production in the world R & o programmes. ~

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Vol. 26 No. 1 =~ Fishing Chimes ~: April 2006
· Increase in the coverage of areas feature currently seen is the entry acceptable to the local population.
of ponds and tanks for aquaculture of low-value finfish as a major Although aquaculture appears a
practices. export commodity. frontier technology in fish
production , it is haunted by several
· Increasing productivity of existing Pro spects of export lie in
constraints like seed, feed and
water bodies. diversified fishing, products and disease. These issues have to be
markets. Tuna and Cephalopods addressed on a warfooting.
· Diversification and intensification have been iden tified as potential
of culture practices. export items. The trade in frozen Other possibilities include
· Popularisation of mariculture/sea fish, fish fillets and Surimi is utilization of trawl by-catch discards
ranching activities. promising and the industry is to be and reduction of post-harvest
adequately geared and equipped to losses. This can give at least half
Extending area of fishing handle and export them in value a million additional fish annually for
operations. added packages. Freshwater consumption. There are now many
technologies available for better
· Developing technologies for species, such as major carps too
utilization of these low-value
utilization of unconventional fish have a potential market, especially
in West Asia. Modernization of the fishes. One of the best methods is
species and by-catch discard.
processing facilities to meet to convert them to value-added
Seafood Exports international standards is of products like fish fingers, balls,
burgers, etc .. There are also many..
Fishery sector has been one of primary importance fOT the industry
in the coming years. processing methods available for
the major contributors of foreign the utilization of these fishes but
exchange earnings through seafood Supply and Demand their consumer acceptability and
export. There has been phenomenal economical potential need to be
Estimating India's future
increase in the export of marine assessed.
demand for food fish is inherently
products both in quantity and in difficult in view of the need for
value terms during the last decade. exactly .predicting growth in Fisheries Potential/
The share of marine products in the population, GOP and change in
Production
total export earnings of India is pattern of food consumption. Based The country has a long coastline
around 3.4%. The quantity of on current level of landings of 8,129 km and a vast area under
marine products from the level of conventional marine resources are estuaries, backwaters, lagoons etc.,
1,39,419 tonnes in 1990-91 has unlikely to meet the demand of the highly amenable for developing
increased to over four lakhs tannes present century if they are not capture as well as culture fisheries.
in 2003-04. While the value of the managed properly. In order to After declaration of the Exclusive
export quantity has increased from maintain the present per capita Economic Zone (EEZ) in 1977, the
Rs. 893.37 crores to Rs. 6,400 crores availability of fish consumption of marine area available to Indi a is
during this period , in the 19905, 4 kg / person (9 kg assuming 56 estimated to 2 .02 million sq. km.
the export has increased with an percent of Indians are fish eaters), comprising 0.86 million sq. km on
annual growth rate of 10.41 % and the country has to produce at least the west coast, 0.56 million sq. km
20. 2 3 % in quantity and value 0.2 million tonnes of fish on the east coast and 0.60 million
resp ectively. additionally per annum. sq. km around the Andaman and
Nicobar islands. With the absolute
Among the exports of marine Filling up the Gap in Supply- right on the EEZ, India has also
products , cultured shrimps Demand: One near possibility of acquired the responsibility to
contributed 52 % in terms of filling the supply-demand gap is conserve, develop and optimally
quantity and 75% in terms of value aquaculture. As freshwater fish exploit the marine living resources
of the total export earning from has little scope for export, its prices within this area.
shrimps. are not going to increase
substantially in the near future and The harvestable potential of
In recent years, there has been will remain accessible to an average marine fishery resources in the EEZ
a diversification in export of items Indian consumer . Further, has been revalidated by a Group of
like frozen squid, cuttlefish and a aquaculture has several problems. Experts constituted by the
variety of other fishes. Japan Production is mainly carp-oriented, Government of India, Ministry of
continued to be our major market, over ninety percent. One hundred Agriculture at about 3.93 million
importing around 45 % of the percent farmed sh rimp, P. monodon tonnes (October, 2000) conSisting
seafood from India followed by and P. indicus, is exported. Carp is of 2.02 million tonnes of demersal,
European Union in the recent past. not a delicacy in many fish·eating 1.67 million tonnes of pelagic and
Other major markets are USA, population of India except West 0.24 million tonnes of oceanic
Belgium , Italy , Thailand, Republic Bengal, Orissa and Bihar. Hence, resources. In the Inland Sector, the
of Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong it is not profitable to an average resources potential has been
Kong , Singapore , and Malaysia. farmer in view of the poor market estimated at 4.5 million tonnes
Exports to the Middle-East price at production centers. This which takes into account the
countries have shown an increasing needs selection of the species for production from both capture and
trend in the recent past. A notable culture practices which are culture fisheries. (jjj=>

I
Vol. 26 No. 1 >~'! Fishing Chimes ~_ April 2006
While the inshore waters have ~ Developmen t of fuel efficient » Environment monitorin g of
been a lmost exploited to the MSY crafts and gears for deep sea aquatic ecosystems.
levels, the contribution from the fishing.
~ Development of ecofriendly and
deep sea has been insignificant.
:> Prevention of post-harvest sustainable fish/ shellfish farming.
The thrust of the deep sea fishing
losses, development of improved
industry has hitherto been directed
transport, storage and processing of ~ Development of hill fishery
at shrimps only, notwithstanding resources and management.
fish.
the other resources. As of today,
the deep sea fishing industry is :> Development of value added }> Human Resource Development in
almost a 100% shrimp oriented fishery products for export. emerging areas.
enterprise, faced with over- :> Bioactive substances from aquatic
exploitation of the available shrimp :> Extraction, production and
evaluation of biomolecules from biota.
resources as well as the fierce
competition from the smaller class marine organisms and plants for :> Coastal Zone Management a nd
of vessels. industrial and pharmaceutical environment impact assessment.
applications.
The development of deep sea Conclusions
fishery industry is of concern to the ~ Mariculture of fish/shellfish and
culture of ornamental fish. The fisheries and aquaculture
entire marine fishery sector because
it would have considerable impact
sector in the country is poised to
~ Introdu ction of HACCP in seafood
on the management of near-shore pray a major role in the lives of
processing. people in the coming decades, with
fisheries, shore-based
infrastructure utilization and post- :> Marine biodiversity conservation increasing population pressure on
harvest activities, both for domestic and management land and alternate food production
marketing and export. Similarly. system being increasingly projec ted
~ Rural aquaculture and integrated
the upgradation of the small from the aquatic resources. The
fish farming, increasing availability
mechanized sector to support the research and development activities
of fish seed and feed .
entrepreneurial interest in the as indicated above in the frontier
sector will be given high priority. ~ Application of molecular biology areas of fisheries sector are
in aquaculture. urgently required on priority basis
Future Thrust Areas of
Research and Development ~ Genetic mapping of important fish
to meet the new challenges in
species through DNA fingerprinting. fisheries sector and to make the
Considering the vast potential of whole system sustainable and eco·
fisheries resources and to achieve :> Fishery informatics and friendl y. Such research and
the targeted production and databases. development support through
productivity, following thrust areas various organizations will not only
~ Fish nutrition and feed
of research and development have boost fish production and
been identified which need development.
productivity but also ensure
attention on priority basis. :> Diversified aquaculture. nutritional and food se c urit y ,
:> Stock assessment and monitoring :> Breeding and culture of new fish employment opportunities and
of commercially important marine and shellfish species in fresh and socia-economic upliftment of the
fish species. brackish water environments. poorest of the poor. ~~~

Indian Exporters Demand Duty Review

Clarification on-
The 10.17% US anti-dumping duty
Seafood Import Regulations on Indian Shrimp is taking its toll and
several leading companies are out to get
Based on a report in a reputed seafood. In fact, seafood could be a review from the US authorities . New
daily newspaper on the speech of imported but only on payment of markets like Malaysia and Bangladesh
Mr. E.V.K.S. Elangovan, Union duty. There is h owever a have gained e ntry into the USA , to the
Minister of State for Commerce relaxation in favour of processing disad vantage of Indian exporters .
and Industry in Cochin on 5 Jan plants. Government of India gives Indian marine product exports have
2006 on the occasion of Export permission to processing plants grown by a normal 3% in the first third
Awards, a news item was to import seafood free of duty for quarter of fiscal 2005-06. ~~~
published at page 170 of Jan 2006 processing and . re-export with an
issue of Fishing Chimes. This says 8th Asian Fisheries Foru m
export ob li gation. What the Le Meridlen, Kochi 20·30 Nov 2007
that the Union Government will Minister meant in his speech was
not a llow import of raw material that imports not linked to export The dates and venue of the 8th
into the domestic market for Asian Fisheries Forum have b e en
obligation will not be allowed free
processing seafood. It is now seen announced . It will be held in Kochi ,
of duty. However, those who want Kerala State, India, at Le Mer idien
that this was misquoted.
to import without export Hotel, from 20-23 November 2007. The
We are now in a position to obligation can import on payment Website will be launched soon. Details
clarify with authenticity, that of prescribed duty, it has been can be had by contacting the organizers
India has never banned import of clarified. ~~~ at email:8aff207@gmail. com ~~~

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