Fish constitutes 20 pc agri exports at Rs 7,200 cr

Lucknow, Sep 18 (UNI) Fish and other aquatic fauna constitute nearly 20 per cent -- at Rs 7,200 crore -- of India's total agricultural exports annually.

The annual fish production currently stands at 64 lakh tonnes, Dr S Ayyappan, Deputy Director General (Fisheries), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi told UNI here.

''However, we are still to realise the full potential in fisheries and aqua-culture, since our total capacity is almost 90 lakh tonnes,'' he informed.

The per capita consumption of fish in India is 9 kg/per year compared to 12 kg/per year globally.

''This means we are not trailing much so far as global average is concerned in fish consumption,'' he stated.

India stands 2nd in aqua-culture and 3rd in fish production in the world.

Dr Ayyappan also underlined that the country possessed enormous ''exclusive economic zone'' comprising ocean, rivers and ponds spread across the country, which could be harnessed further.

''India is home to about 2,400 fish species. Fisheries can play a vital role in maintaining the 'food and nutritional' security of the country,'' Dr Ayyappan, who is also the Chief Executive, National Fisheries Development Board, observed.

He was here to attend a two-day national workshop on 'Fish Introductions in India: Status, Challenges and Potentials' organised at the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), Lucknow.

The workshop, which concluded yesterday, aimed documenting the spread of exotic species in India, assesing emerging requirement in relation to the need for diversification of aqua-culture and threat to aquatic bio-diversity and developing suitable strategy to mitigate the impact of imported aquatic germplasm.

About 60 delegates from different state fisheries department, ministry of agriculture, universities, central fisheries organisations and private aqua-culture industries participated in the deliberations.

NBFGR Director Dr W S Lakra informed the Bureau has the specific mandate for evaluating the introduction of exotic aquatic species into Indian waters.

NBFGR has been recognised as a nodal organisation under ICAR by the union ministry of agriculture for undertaking advanced research programmes on exotic fishes and quarantine.

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