Overview on mariculture and the opportunities and challenges of cage culture in India

India is the fourth largest producer of fish in the world and the total fish production is around 6 Mt per year and its share in the GDP is around 1.4%. The world annual growth rate in aquaculture production has been 7.05% since 1971 (FAO 2008). In 2006, aquaculture comprised 41.8% of total seafood supply. Indian aquaculture has demonstrated a six and half fold growth over the last two decades, with freshwater aquaculture contributing over 95 percent of the total aquaculture production. Given the status of global fisheries, with most large fish stocks being fully exploited or over-exploited, aquaculture production must increase in order to maintain or increase the global seafood supply per capita