page_title: Fishing in India
section_title: Economic benefits
hierarchical_section_title: Fishing in India / Economic benefits
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Bateaux de pêche, Mahâballipuram, Inde English: Fish boats, Mahabalipuram, India
context_page_description: Fishing in India is a major industry employing 14.5 million people. India ranks second in aquaculture and third in fisheries production. Fisheries contributes to 1.07% of the Total GDP of India. According to the National Fisheries Development Board the Fisheries Industry generates an export earnings of Rs 334.41 billion. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, fish production has increased more than tenfold since 1947 and doubled between 1990 and 2010.Each year, India celebrates July 10 as the National Fish Farmers day.
  India has 7,500 kilometres of marine coastline, 3,827 fishing villages and 1,914 traditional fish landing centers. India's fresh water resources consist of 195,210 kilometres of rivers and canals, 2.9 million hectares of minor and major reservoirs, 2.4 million hectares of ponds and lakes, and about 0.8 million hectares of flood plain wetlands and water bodies. As of 2010, the marine and freshwater resources offered a combined sustainable catch fishing potential of over 4 million metric tonnes of fish.
context_section_description: Fishing in India contributed over 1 percent of India's annual gross domestic product in 2008. Fishing in India employs about 14.5 million people. To harvest the economic benefits from fishing, India has adopted exclusive economic zone, stretching 200 nautical miles (370 km) into the Indian Ocean, encompasses more than 2 million square kilometers. In addition to this marine zone, India has about 14,000 km² of brackish water available for aquaculture, about 16,000 km² of freshwater lakes, ponds, and swamps; and nearly 64,000 kilometers of rivers and streams. In 1990, there were 1.7 million full-time fishermen, 1.3 million part-time fishermen, and 2.3 million occasional fishermen, many of whom worked as saltmakers, ferrymen, or seamen, or operated boats for hire. In the early 1990s, the fishing fleet consisted of 180,000 traditional craft powered by sails or oars, 26,000 motorized traditional craft, and some 34,000 mechanized boats.
  Fish production rose from 800,000 tons in FY 1950 to 4.1 million tons in the early 1990s. From 1990 through 2010, Indian fish industry accelerated, reaching a total marine and freshwater fish production to about 8 million metric tons. In 2006, Indian central government initiated a dedicated organization focused on fisheries, under its Ministry of Agriculture. Special efforts have been made to promote extensive and intensive inland fish farming, modernize coastal fisheries, and encourage deep-sea fishing through joint ventures. These efforts led to a more than fourfold increase in coastal fish production from 520,000 tons in FY 1950 to 3.35 million tons in FY 2013. The increase in inland fish production was even more dramatic, increasing almost eightfold from 218,000 tons in FY 1950 to 6.10 million tons in FY 2013. The value of fish and processed fish exports increased from less than 1 percent of the total value of exports in FY 1960 to 3.6 percent in FY 1993. Between 1990 and 2007, fish production in India has grown at a higher rate than food grains, milk, eggs, and other food items. Indian inland waters (rivers, reservoirs, wetlands, lakes and ponds) contribute 62–65% of the total fisheries production.
caption: Fish boats in Tamil Nadu
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