India’s Fish Production

Fisheries sector occupies a very important place in the socio-economic development of the country. It has been recognized as a powerful income and employment generator as it stimulates growth of a number of subsidiary industries, and is a source of cheap and nutritious food besides being a foreign exchange earner.

Contribution to Economy

Fisheries sector currently constitutes about 1 per cent of the GDP of the country and 4.75 per cent of agriculture GDP.

Production Figures

India’s total fish production during 2013-14 was 9.58 MT, an increase of 5.96 per cent over 2012-13.  With these figures, India is second largest fish producer in the world after China. However, India’s production of fish is only 10% of its nearest competitor China. This is mainly due to the reason that India’s aquaculture is limited to few species (<10) while in China there are more than 100 species being cultured commercially.