Lok Sabha Question No. 4898 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-01
Subject: Promote Fishing Practices
Ministry: FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING
Asked by: Smt. Rachna Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4898 TO BE ANSWERED ON 1 st  April, 2025

## Promote Fishing Practices

## 4898. Smt. Rachna Banerjee:

Will the Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying be pleased to state:

- (a) the measures taken to promote sustainable fishing practices in the country and how is the Government ensuring that they are effectively implemented;
- (b) the actions taken to minimize post-harvest losses in the fisheries sector, particularly in areas where storage and transportation infrastructure is limited;
- (c)  the  details  of  initiatives  in  place  to  support  the  livelihoods  of  traditional  and  small-scale fishermen, especially in coastal and remote regions;
- (d) the manner in which depletion of fish stocks in certain regions is managed and the strategies in place to prevent overfishing;
- (e)  the  details  of  modern  technologies  (such  as  satellite  tracking,  advanced  nets  and  better fishing equipment) used to improve efficiency and reduce bycatch, if so, the details thereof; and
- (f)      the  steps  taken  to  ensure  fish  remains  an  affordable  source  of  nutrition  for  the  growing population, especially in low-income regions?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING (SHRI GEORGE KURIAN)

(a):  'Fisheries'  is  a  state  subject. While  the  governance  of  fisheries  in  the  territorial  waters  of  12 nautical miles falls under the domain of the State Governments, fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and beyond is the subject of the Union Government. The 'National Policy on Marine Fisheries, 2017' (NPMF, 2017) notified by the Department of Fisheries, Government of India provides guidance  for  sustainable  harnessing  of  marine  resources  in  the  country.  The  conservation  and management  measures  implemented  for  sustainable  harnessing  of  marine  resources inter  alia include 61 days of annual fishing ban, Ban on destructive fishing practices viz. paired bottom trawling or bull trawling and use of artificial and LED lights in fishing, marine protected areas (MPAs) and protection of endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species, Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) in trawl nets, fishing gear and mesh-size regulations, minimum legal size (MLS) of fishes, spatialtemporal restrictions, and zonation of fishing areas by the coastal States/UTs, etc.

The  Department  of  Fisheries,  Government  of  India  is  implementing  a  flagship  scheme  'Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)' with a vision of ecologically healthy, economically viable and socially inclusive fisheries sector that contributes towards economic prosperity and well-being of fishers in a sustainable and responsible manner. Under PMMSY, the activities such as sea ranching and installation of artificial reefs are supported for the first time by the Government  across entire coastline  of  India  for  enhancing  the  fish  stocks  and  supporting  livelihood  of  fishers.  Besides,  the activities such as mariculture including seaweed cultivation, open sea cage culture, bivalve culture and ornamental fisheries are also promoted under PMMSY to reduce the fishing pressure in  the nearshore waters and enhancing marine production. Advisories are also issued to coastal States/UTs from time to time for preventing juvenile fishing and promoting sustainable fishing practices.

(b):  Government  schemes  including  PMMSY  are  aimed  at  reducing  the  post-harvest  losses  by development and modernization, strengthening of fisheries post-harvest infrastructure, value chain and  marketing  infrastructure  including  construction/  modernization  and  upgradation  of  fishing harbours/fish landing centres, setting up of markets and marketing infrastructures, providing coldchain of transportation and storage facilities. During the last 10 years, the Government of India has approved the projects for construction/modernization of 67 Fishing Harbours and 50 Fish Landing Centres at a total cost of Rs 9,735.89 crore for safe landing and berthing of about 48,000 fishing vessels, benefitting 9 lakhs fishers and associated stakeholders. Further, the GoI has also created a dedicated fund namely 'Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund' (FIDF) with a corpus of Rs 7522.48 crore in 2018-19 for providing the concessional finance. GoI has also supported for improvements in the transportation & logistics network including processing facilities. This includes 27,189 fish transportation facilities, 6,916 fish retail markets, wholesale markets and fish kiosks, 11 integrated  aquaparks,  1,725  fish  feed  mill/plants  &  ice  plant/cold  storages  and  128  value  added enterprise units. Three Modern and Smart Fish Markets are being developed with facilities such as IoT, e-Trading, green technology, logistic supply chain integration, etc.

(c):  DoF, GoI is taking various steps under the PMMSY towards providing financial assistance to fishers,  which  includes  livelihood  and  nutritional  support  provided  annually  to  ~5.94  lakh  fisher families during the fishing ban and lean periods. Besides, the Group Accident Insurance Scheme cover was increased from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh benefiting 32.16 lakh fishers. The empowerment of fisheries cooperatives and entrepreneurship has been prioritized through the establishment of 2,195 Fisheries Farmer Producer Organizations (FFPOs). Additionally, 63 FFPOs have been integrated into the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), improving access to markets and fair pricing. Under the PMMSY, financial assistance is also provided to traditional fishers for acquisition of deep-sea fishing vessels, upgradation of existing fishing vessels for export competence, procurement of boats and nets by traditional fishers for better catch, vessel communication and support system and safety kits to ensure safety of fishermen at sea.

(d): The Government has taken several steps to increase the fish stocks, such as implementation of uniform  fishing  ban  during  monsoon  season,  ban  on  destructive  fishing  methods,  discouraging juvenile fishing, installation of artificial reefs, promoting sea ranching, alternate/additional livelihood to coastal communities to reduce fishing pressure etc. The potential of fishery resources are estimated in regular intervals by committee of experts to ascertain the status of fish stocks and revalidation of potential of fishery resources in the Exclusive economic Zone of India. The sustainable fisheries in the maritime zones of India is ensured by way of implementation of laws, regulations and policies at national and state levels. As per the report of Marine Fish Stock Status of India 2022, published by ICAR-Central  Marine  Fisheries  Research  Institute  (CMFRI),  the  marine  fish  stocks  of  the  Indian waters are in good health and 91.1% of the 135 fish stocks evaluated in different regions during 2022 were found sustainable.

(e)  The  NPMF,  2017 inter  alia recommends  the  use  of  Information  Technology  (IT)  and  Space Technology  (ST)  to  ensure  optimum  use  for  harnessing  the  benefits  in  support  of  the  fisher community. The DoF, GoI through its schemes and programs, has promoted use of IT and ST for various applications for the benefits of fishers  such as providing real-time Potential Fishing  Zone (PFZ)  advisories  and  weather  forecasts  to  fishers,  use  of  Vessel  Monitoring  System/Automatic Identification System, safety kits to fishers for their safety. The Vessel Communication and Support System (VCSS) is provided to ensure safety of fishermen at sea. The bycatch could undermine the integrity  of  the  marine  ecosystem,  therefore,  DoF,  GoI  is  providing  100%  financial  assistance  to fishers shared between Centre and State/UTs in the ratio of 60% Central share and 40% State share without any share of fisher/beneficiary, for installation of Turtle Excluder Device (TED).

(f):  The  availability  of  fish  and  fish  products  throughout  India  is  ensured  through  promotion  of sustainable  and  responsible  fishing  practices,  conservation  and  optimum  utilization  of  fishery resources, promotion of aquaculture and reduction in post-harvest losses. Moreover, the DoF, GoI has been implementing various schemes and programs which inter alia promotes various activities for  enhancing  production  and  productivity  of  fishery  resources,  ensuring  availability  of  fish  as  an affordable source of nutrition for the growing population, especially in low-income regions.