May 24, 2012

India's fish production down 33 % on over exploitation

Due to over exploitation, fish production in Goa has fallen by shocking 33%, according to a study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (ASSOCHAM).

In contrast, neighbouring Karnataka has seen a record increase by 11.48% making it the state registering the highest growth in fish production in the country.

Fish production in Goa dropped from a whopping 9.9 lakh tonnes in 2004- 05 to the current level of just about 94,000 tonnes mostly due to overexploitation of fishery resources, the ASSOCHAM report and accompanying analysis reveals.

Karnataka which has a coastline of over 300 kilometres, which is topographically similar to Goa's 105-kilometre coastline, saw five lakh tonnes of annual fish production over the fishing season, which began after the monsoon. But that is still just half of Goa's peak production of 9.9 lakh tonnes in 2004-05.

That made contribute almost 6% of overall fish production in India which is currently estimated at about 91 lakh tonnes. However, to Goa's consolation Maharashtra too registered a poor growth rate in the fishing output of 0.86% which was also below 1%, as the fish production has fallen from about 5.96 lakh tonnes in 2006-07 to an estimated 5.82 lakh tonnes.

Fish production in India is rising at a rate of about 5% and is likely to cross 104 lakh tonnes by 2015, according to ASSOCHAM. In terms of value, exports of fish from India are likely to reach INR16,000 crore (US$2.88 billion) by 2015 from the current level of about INR13,500 crore (US$2.4 billion).

Captured fish accounts for about 70% of India's total fish production annually, while aquaculture accounts for about 30%. India is the second largest fish producer in the world after China and accounts for nearly 6% of global fish production of about 180 million tonnes, said ASSOCHAM. Amid leading coastal states in India, Andhra Pradesh ranks second in terms of growth in fish production with a CAGR of about 8% and with over 13.5 lakh tonnes of fish production annually, the state accounts for over 16% of country's total fish production.

West Bengal (4.85%), Tamil Nadu (4.47%), Gujarat (3.37%) and Odisha (3.25%) are other leading fish producing states in India which recorded fish production growth rate between 3-4% during 2004-05 and 2009-10.

Fish production in Goa dropped from a whopping 9.9 lakh tonnes in 2004-05 to the current level of just about 94,000 tonnes mostly due to over exploitation of fishery resources.