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:
Year (Rupees in Lakh)
2018-19 : ? 5,689.07/-
2019-20 : ? 9,100.27/-
2020-21 : ? 8,637.98/-
2021-22 : ? 7,284.02/-
(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, south-west 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.
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)#
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.
*****
Download PDF Files
