Freshwater Aquaculture in India

The overall fish output of India is growing at a faster pace than foodgrains. But this growth is being chiefly sustained by inland aquaculture (fish farming).

Fish catch (capture fisheries) from rivers and other open water bodies in the inland fisheries sector and from the oceans in the marine fisheries sector are either stagnant or declining.

Its worth note that the output of marine fisheries used to be higher than that of inland fisheries once upon a time. But in 2000-01, inland fisheries overtook marine fisheries in terms of production and the trend has continued till today.

Today, the marine fisheries sector has virtually ceased to grow, but inland fisheries continue to expand. As a result, while the out-turn of marine fisheries has remained static at less than three million tonnes for the past two decades, the inland sector has surged from three million tonnes to over 4.7 million tonnes. India has, consequently, become the world’s second-largest producer of cultured fish after China.

Bulk of inland aquaculture production comprises three major Indian carp — rohu, catla and mrigal, however, farmers have also begun rearing such exotic freshwater fish as the silver carp, grass carp and common carp. Efforts are on to diversify the species mix in freshwater aquaculture by introducing high-value catfish likemagur and freshwater prawns.

Box: Reasons of Freshwater Aquaculture Success in India

Adoption of scientific fish farming practices has led to an over five-fold increase in the mean national fish productivity — from 600 to 800 kg per hectare a year to over 2,500 kg per hectare. Yield as high as 12,000 kg of fish per hectare.

The growing consumer demand, convenient marketing and good returns have also helped in the expansion of fish cultivation. (Business Standard)