Fishing in India

Fishing in India is a major industry in its coastal states, employing over 14 million people.

Fish production in India has increased more than tenfold since its independence in 1947. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, fish output in India doubled between 1990 and 2010.

India has 7517 kilometers of marine coastline, 3,827 fishing villages, and 1,914 traditional fish landing centers. India's fresh water resources consist of 195,210 kilometers 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. In addition, India's water and natural resources offer a tenfold growth potential in aquaculture (farm fishing) from 2010 harvest levels of 3.9 million metric tonnes of fish, if India were to adopt fishing knowledge, regulatory reforms, and sustainability policies adopted by China over the last two decades.

The marine fish harvested in India consist of about 65 commercially important species/groups. Pelagic and midwater species contributed about 52% of the total marine fish in 2004.

India is a major supplier of fish in the world. In 2006 the country exported over 600,000 metric tonnes of fish, to some 90 countries, earning over $1.8 billion.Shrimps are one of the major varieties exported. The giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) is the dominant species chosen for aquaculture, followed by the Indian white prawn (Fenneropenaeus indicus). Shrimp production from coastal aquaculture during 2004 stood at approximately 120,000 tonnes. Farmed shrimp accounted for about 60% of shrimp exported from the country.

Marine and freshwater catch fishing combined with aquaculture fish farming is a rapidly growing industry in India. In 2008 India was the sixth largest producer of marine and freshwater capture fisheries, and the second largest aquaculture farmed fish producer in the world. Fish as food—both from fish farms and catch fisheries—offers India one of the easiest and fastest way to address malnutrition and food security.

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