Indian fisheries perspective

With 2.02 million sq. km. of sea in its EEZ, more than 27,000 km of rivers, about 1,13,000 km of canals, 1.75 million ha. of identified water spread in the form of reservoirs, over a million ha. in the form of tanks and ponds and approximately 0.6 million ha. of stagnant derelict water-spread, India portends with considerable scope for development of fisheries, both capture and culture. There are about one and a half million fishermen, actively engaged in fishing who support about 6 million people of fishermen community for their livelihood. With the present fish production of 2.80 million tonnes (1984) India contributes to a little over 3% of the world fish production of about 76 million tonnes. India's contribution is highest in the Indian Ocean fishery. The annual growth of fish production has been in the order of 7% during the last couple of years as against 3.1% during the base of the last plan. The per capita consumption of fish in India is about 3.6 kg/annum while the world average figure is about 12.5 kg/annum. The level recommended by the Nutrition Advisory Committee on Human Nutrition stands at 31 kg/annum