Mariculture research in India – status, constraints and prospects

It has generally been agreed that on a global basis, the majority of the exploited fisheries are in declining phase and further increase in fishing pressure will be detrimental to the stocks. The marine exploited fisheries in India is also facing a similar crisis due to overcapitalization, over capacity, over exploitation and the consequent reduced catch rates. At this juncture, the only sunrise sector in future is mariculture, which can augment the income from marine fisheries through coastal as well as open sea farming. It could be seen that there was an increase of about 25 times in global aquaculture production from 1970 to 2000, while the corresponding increase in capture fisheries production was only about seven times. India has vast areas of suitable coastal waters, lagoons and bays which can be utilized for mariculture. Irrespective of India’s vast potential, our mariculture production is only about 80 to 100 thousand tonnes annually, almost entirely from shrimp culture. It is time that India should focus much attention on mariculture to ensure food and nutritional security to its growing populations. In this context, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) is the pioneering institution in the country which has initiated mariculture research and has been developing appropriate mariculture technologies in India ( Devaraj et al, 1999; Pillai and Menon, 2000; Pillai et al, 2003; Mohan Joseph 2004)