November 23, 2017

India VP advocates advanced aquaculture technology to boost fish production

Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India, urged for increased attention on modern aquaculture technologies and the diversification of products in order to fulfill the rising demand for fish, United News of India reported.

"Our future outlook must focus not on increasing our fishing efforts in the seas where there is already overcapacity, but on judicious use of the declining fishery resources," Naidu added. He encouraged the need to cut down losses as well as looking into value adding and supplementing the demand for fish during the inauguration of the 11th Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture forum.

According to the Vice President, studies revealed a downtrend of catches from wild capture fisheries "since the peak global catches in the mid-1990s." In fact, many countries in Asia are prioritising the employment of advanced technologies to boost fish productions, given that the quality of catches from marine capture fisheries does not convey a promising outlook.  

"On one hand, we must focus on ensuring the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries," Naidu said. "On the other hand, we must have a more regulated and well managing fishing environment through global marine capture fisheries policy and governance. We must also address marine conservation concerns."