India farms 1.6 million tonnes of freshwater fish per year. Not at all, according to CIFA's current director, Dr S. Ayyappan. Even India's vast distances, hot climate and vegetarian tradition do not place insurmountable obstacles in the way of expansion. While it is true that India is known as a vegetarian culture, in fact 55 percent of Indians are non-vegetarian. Our present annual per caput consumption of fish is 8 kilos per person, while the global average is 12 kilos.
Fish is packed on ice and trucked long distances in refrigerated trucks.
If the ice melts, a stop is made at an ice plant en route to redress the fish, which is sold fresh. India is very much a nation that helps itself, for example, building a huge manufacturing sector from virtually nothing at Independence in 1947. Another Indian virtue is creating technology and products that may seem somewhat old-fashioned to trendy Westerners but are suited to Indian conditions. A 1998 edition of the solid all-Indian car, the Ambassador, for example, looks exactly like a 1958 version. Putting out a new model every year is considered a luxury.