What is Blue Revolution | fisheries
Creating a separate department for fisheries in the Union government is a significant step. Fisheries are the primary source of livelihood for several communities. A concentrated effort by an independent department could help the government achieve its objective of doubling farmer’s income.
The fisheries and aquaculture production contribute around 1% to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and over 5% to the agricultural GDP.
India is the world’s second-largest fish producer with exports worth more than Rs 47,000 crores. Fisheries are the country’s single-largest agriculture export, with a growth rate of 6 to 10 percent in the past five years. India’s long coastline has the potential of becoming the strength of the economy, particularly through exploitation of the Blue Economy, to ensure better standards and quality of life for a large number of people living in the coastal areas.
The new National Policy on Marine Fisheries, therefore, talks of introducing deep-sea fishing vessels and assisting fishing communities to convert their vessels and gears for the waters beyond. An integrated approach towards agro and food processing, preservation, packaging and maintenance of the cold chain will be our focus of attention.
The Blue Revolution scheme launched a few years ago seeks to make fishery and aquaculture a viable and rewarding vocation. The Blue Revolution mission aims at doubling the income of farmers. Fish Consumption must not lead to Exploitation which affects Sustainability. However, like in rest of the world, India’s fisheries sector faces the challenge of sustainability. The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture reports note that nearly 90 per cent of the global marine fish stocks have either been fully-exploited, or over-fished or depleted to an extent that recovery may not be biologically possible.
