Can India afford to opt out of commercial tuna fishing?

There is a growing concern about sustaining global food resources to keep pace with the growing population and other demands to meet the challenges of 2000 A.D. and beyond. Fisheries is no exception. It is estimated that at the present level of consumption of fish, the requirement by 2000 A.D. will be about 100 million tonnes as against the present production of about 82 million tonnes. One of the components projected for filling up a part of this gap is the harvest of tuna and tuna-like fishes, which stands today at about 3.6 million tonnes and is projected to increase to over 8 million tonnes during the next decade. While optimistic estimates as to how to fill such a gap through increased production of pelagic and demersal fisheries, including tunas und cuphalopods and potential saving from past harvest loses and from aquaculture have been made, let us look at the scenario of Indian fisheries, particularly marine fisheries and more specifically tuna fisheries