The average growth in fish production in the country during 2013-14 stood at 5.9 per cent, mainly due to the 7.3 per cent growth in inland aquaculture and the 3.7 per cent in the marine sector.
Total fish production during 2013-14 (provisional) is registered at 9.58 million tonnes, with 6.14 million tonnes coming from the inland sector and 3.44 million tonnes from the marine sector, according to The Handbook on Fisheries Statistics 2014, released by the Agriculture Minister here on Wednesday. The handbook has been uploaded on http://dahd.nic.in, an official release said.
Exports of fish and fish products grew at 9,83,756 tonnes (worth ₹30,213.26 crore), compared to 6,78,436 tonnes (₹10,048.53 crore) in 2009-10. The increase is mainly because of L. Vannamei, an exotic shrimp variety, introduced in 2009, which accounted for nearly ₹20,000 crore of the total export in 2013-14, the release said.
In India, over 14.49 million people depend on the fisheries sector for their livelihoods, besides an equal number of people engaged in ancillary activities in fisheries and aquaculture.
Incidentally, various fishworkers’ associations have for long been demanding a separate ministry for fisheries, which is being handled by a department under the Agriculture Ministry at present.