Lok Sabha Question No. 4196 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-29
Subject: Fishing Survey of India
Ministry: FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING
Asked by: Rajveer (Raju Bhaiya) Singh, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Raja Amareshwara Naik, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Sukanta Majumdar, Bhola Singh, Jayanta Kumar Roy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY & DAIRYING DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4196

TO BE ANSWERED ON 29 th  March, 2022

## Fishing Survey of India

## 4196.   SHRI RAJVEER SINGH (RAJU BHAIYA):

SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH

DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

## Will the Minister of FISHERIES,  ANIMAL  HUSBANDRY  AND  DAIRYING मत्स्यपालन , पशुपालन और डेयरी मंत्री be pleased to state:

- (a) the main functions and the objectives for setting up the Fishery Survey of India (FSI);
- (b) the total funds/financial assistance provided by the Government to FSI during each of the last three years and the current year, State-wise;
- (c) whether  FSI  prepares  the  annual  Fishery  Resource  Survey,  Assessment  and  Research programme and if so, the details of survey conducted during the said period;
- (d) whether the survey has helped in increasing the production of fisheries in the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the details of other steps taken by the Government for optimizing fish production as well as promoting fisheries regulation, ensuring resources conservation and environment protection?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING

## (SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)

- (a):    Fishery Survey of India (FSI) is the nodal agency for carrying out the survey, assessment and monitoring of the marine fishery resources of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India.
- (b):  The year-wise funds allocated to the Fishery Survey of India during the last three years and current year is given below:
- (c):    FSI  prepares  and  published  the  'Annual  Fishery  Resources  Survey,  Assessment  and Research Programme'. The details of survey conducted is furnished as below:
- (i) Demersal  resources  survey,  assessment  and  monitoring  of  fish  stocks  along  north Maharashtra  and  Gujarat  coast  between  latitude  (lat.)  18°N  -  23°N,    along  south Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and North Kerala coast between lat.12°N - 18°N, southwest coast,  Wadge  Bank and Gulf of Mannar between lat. 07°N - 12°N, south east coast  between  lat.  10°N  -  16°N,  the  upper  east  coast  between  lat.  16°N  -  21°N  and Survey of coastal pelagic fishery resources by mid-water trawling along the upper east coast between lat 16° N - 21°N.
- (ii) Oceanic  Tuna  Resources  Survey  Projects  including  Tuna  resources  survey  using monofilament longlining along the west coast of India between lat. 4°N and lat. 23°N, in  the  Bay  of  Bengal  in  the  lat  between  10°N  and  20°N  and  Gulf  of  Mannar  coast. Tuna resources survey in  Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around Andaman and Nicobar islands between lat. 05° N 15°N and Survey of oceanic tuna and allied resources using regular long line in the Indian EEZ along central west coast including Lakshadweep between lat 08°N - 18°N.
- (iii) Experimental  bottom  set  vertical  longline  survey  in  Andaman  and  Nicobar  Islands between lat. 5°N - 15°N and along south-east coast between lat. 10°N - 20°N.

| Year    | (Rupees in   | Lakh)        |
|---------|--------------|--------------|
| 2018-19 | :            | ₹ 5,689.07/- |
| 2019-20 | :            | ₹ 9,100.27/- |
| 2020-21 | :            | ₹ 8,637.98/- |
| 2021-22 | :            | ₹ 7,284.02/- |

In addition, FSI developed advisories on Minimum  Legal Size (MLS) for economically important fish and shell fish species of Andaman & Nicobar waters. Besides, research  is  also  carried  out  to  find  out  the  diversified  passive  fishing  methods  and  gear development for sustainable fishing by reducing by-catch & discard

- (d):      The  institute  has  been  generating  real  time  geo-tagged  data  of  marine  fishery  resources from deep waters to shallow zones of 30m depth for more than seven decades. The data collected  through  the  exploratory  survey  are  being  disseminated  to  the  fishers  through various  electronic,  digital  and  print  media.  Besides  these,  FSI  is  conducting  regional workshops,  open  house,  marine  exhibitions,  street  plays,  awareness  programmes  etc.  to disseminate the data and various data products to augment the fishing activities so as to have enhanced catch with less efforts thereby saving the fuel & time.

The geo-referenced data has been utilized for creation of PFZ (Potential Fishing Zone) maps so as to ease the navigation of the fishers to the targeted potential fishing areas. FSI survey is the main backbone for estimation of potential yield by the re-validation committee constituted by the Ministry from time to time. The decadal data of production from marine capture fisheries during 1990-91 to 2019-20 as enumerated in the following table shows the substantial increase in the fish production, which also reflects the contributions of the FSI to the marine fisheries sector:

| Marine Fish Production (in Lakh Tones)#   | Marine Fish Production (in Lakh Tones)#   |
|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Year                                      | Production                                |
| 1990-91                                   | 23.00                                     |
| 2000-01                                   | 28.11                                     |
| 2010-11                                   | 32.50                                     |
| 2019-20                                   | 37.27                                     |

(e):    The  marine  fisheries  in  the  territorial  water  are  regulated  through  respective  Marine Fisheries Regulation Act(s) (MFRAs) by the coastal States/UTs. A uniform fishing ban for 61 days is also being implementing in the EEZ of India, both on the East coast and the West Coast as one of the steps for conservation of fisheries resources. Ban on pair trawling/Bull trawling  and  LED/artificial  lights  for  fishing  in  the  Indian  EEZ  has  been  imposed  since 2017. Besides, the Government of India also issues advisories to the Coastal States and UTs for taking necessary conservation and management measures to ensure sustainable fisheries and environment protection.

The  Government  of  India  in  recent  years  has  taken  several  initiatives  to  harness  the  full potential  of  the  fisheries  sector  in  a  sustainable  and  responsible  manner.  The  Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) -'Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries' was launched in 2015-16 with an outlay of Rs 3000 crores for a period of 5 years. In order to address the critical gaps in the fisheries infrastructure, 'Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund' (FIDF) was created in 2018-19 with a fund size of Rs. 7522.48 crores for providing concessional finance to the State/UT Governments, their entities and the private sector. The Government of India in May, 2020 has approved a new flagship  scheme  'Pradhan  Mantri  Matsya  Sampada  Yojana'  (PMMSY)  with  highest investment of Rs. 20,050 crore,  for implementation during FY 2020-21 to 2024-25 in all States and UTs. The facility of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) has been extended to the fishers and fish farmers. These initiatives have resulted in an all-time high fish production in last few years.