36 SEPTEMBER 2013 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG The Need for a Well-Defined Aquaculture Policy for India M. N. Kutty Aquaculture in India in Global Context Total global fisheries production (capture and culture) was around 148.5 million t in 2010 (FAO 2011). Global fish production from aquaculture increased from 34.6 million t in 2001 to 59.9 million t in 2010, constituting about 40 percent of total fish production, including capture fisheries (Table1). Globally aquaculture accounts for about 50 percent of food-fish consumption and is the fastest growing primary production sector, averaging an annual growth rate of nearly 7 percent (FAO 2011). India is second among countries active in aquaculture, producing 4.65 million t, next to China, whose production excelled at 36.73 million t (FAO 2011). Although India is ranked second to China in aquaculture production, the gap between the two top countries is wide (Table 2). Total fish production in India showed a phenomenal eleven-fold increase from 0.75 million t in 1950 to 8.3 million t in 2011, indicating an annual increase of 4.5 percent. The driving force boosting total sector production is aquaculture, which showed an increase from 0.37 million t in 1980 to 4.3 million t in 2011. India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2.02 million km2, stretching over a coastline of 8129 km, presently yields 3.3 million t of fish through capture fisheries, which is approaching the estimated potential fishery yield of 4.3 million t (Ayyappan 2012). The fisheries sector, including aquaculture, meets food and nutritional needs, provides employment for 14.5 million people and brought in foreign exchange earnings of about US$ 2.5 billion in 2011. The bulk of India’s massive aquaculture production continues to be accounted for by farming of the Indian major carps and silver and grass carps, mostly in polyculture systems, referred to in India as composite fish culture. This improved system was developed in ICAR’s Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture. Much of the present recognition of aquaculture in India seems TABLE 1. World aquaculture and capture fisheries productions (million metric tons) and their contributions to total fish production during 2001-2010. 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Aquaculture Quantity (million t) 34.6 36.8 38.9 41.9 44.3 47.3 49.9 52.9 55.7 59.9 Contribution (%) 27.6 28.8 30.6 31.2 32.4 34.4 35.6 37.1 38.3 40.3 Capture Quantity (million t) 90.8 91.0 88.3 92.6 92.3 90.0 90.3 89.7 89.6 88.6 Contribution (%) 72.4 71.2 69.4 68.8 67.6 65.6 64.4 62.9 61.7 59.7 Total production (million t) 125.4 127.8 127.2 134.5 136.6 137.3 140.2 142.6 145.3 148.5 TABLE 2. Top ten countries in world aquaculture production (t). RANKING COUNTRY 2008 2009 2010 1 China 32,731,371 34,779,870 36,734,215 2 India 3,851,057 3,791,920 4,648,851 3 Viet Nam 2,462,450 2,556,080 2,671,800 4 Indonesia 1,690,221 1,733,434 2,304,828 5 Bangladesh 1,005,542 1,064,285 1,308,515 6 Thailand 1,330,861 1,416,668 1,286,122 7 Norway 848,359 961,840 1,008,010 8 Egypt 693,815 705,490 919,585 9 Myanmar 674,776 778,096 850,697 10 Philippines 741,142 737,397 744,695
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