Facts:
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Fishing in India is an important economic activity and emerging sector.
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India’s fish production is estimated at around 12 million tonnes annually.
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India has become the second largest fish producing and aquaculture industry in the world.
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In aquaculture, India is second to china with a share of 6% in global aquaculture.
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The fisheries sector employed over 14.5 million people directly and many more indirectly.
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At present, Fish production contributes to around 1% to GDP of country and 5% to agricultural GDP of country.
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India exports one tenth of its Fish produced.
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The contribution of fish from the seas has lowered now and the share is rising from inland farming.
Government Initiatives:
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The Indian government has taken a lot of other efforts to boost up Indian aquaculture market such as
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Integrating all the existing schemes under Blue Revolution,
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Establishing ‘Brood bank’ for commercially important species to ensure production and supply of certified broods to hatcheries in the country,
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developing cold water fishery,
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improving the manpower requirements of the fisheries programs.
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Government has established a fund named FAIDF to boost fishing.
Way Forward:
Overall, fisheries is a sunrise sector having a lot of future growth possibilities. All the 3 sub sectors viz. Inland, Aquaculture and Marine fisheries have a lot of scope for improvement. The recent step of creating FAIDF is a praised step to boost the fisheries sector to the desired level.