India’s Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Professor S P Singh Baghel has maintained that boosting fish production, enhancing the livelihood of fishers and farming communities, and modernising infrastructure are the government’s key priorities.
Baghel was speaking at an interactive meeting held at the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) during his visit to Kerala to review the activities of the central fisheries institutes in the state. The minister also visited the Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical and Engineering Training (CIFNET).
He said the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) scheme provides subsidies and financial assistance for various activities such as fish hatcheries, fish processing units, and the introduction of modern fishing technologies.
“A sum of Rs 1148.88 crore has been released to support the country’s fisheries sector under this scheme. India’s fish production is targeted to reach 22 million tonnes by 2024-25”, he said.
Facilitating investments in the sector, the government issued 301,309 Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) to fishermen and fish farmers until March 2024, he said.
“These KCCs come with a sanctioned credit of Rs. 2121.29 crore, enabling fishers to invest in necessary equipment, boats, and modern aquaculture facilities. This has led to increased productivity and improved incomes for the fishing community.”
The Union Minister added: “Mariculture is an important emerging subsector of the Blue Economy. Sea cage farming of finfishes, seaweed farming and Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture (IMTA) Systems can help the fish farming community improve their livelihood. In addition, entrepreneurial ventures in farming and seed production areas offer promising prospects.”
Referring to the government’s commitment to improving the infrastructure in the sector, he noted the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FAIDF) supports the creation of modern infrastructure facilities, including state-of-the-art fish landing centres, cold storage facilities and fish processing units, benefitting approximately 3.3 lakh fishermen.
“This has helped reduce post-harvest losses and ensure the quality and availability of fish in the market.”
Baghel also applauded the CMFRI for its crucial role in advancing the marine fisheries sector through groundbreaking research on marine biodiversity and sustainable marine fisheries. CMFRI’s community-oriented initiatives helped empower the local fishing communities and promote sustainable practices in the sector.
On the visit, the minister released CMFRI’s specially formulated fish feed “Silver grow” for use in the cage farming of silver pompano fish, and nutraceutical products for use against hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy.
He also inaugurated the newly-established molecular taxonomy laboratory of the institute to characterise the marine biodiversity at the species and sub-species level.
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