Governor Banwarilal Purohit said that fish production in India has seen a paradigm shift from marine domination to a scenario where inland fisheries have emerged as a major contributor.
“The annual fisheries and aquaculture production in India is about 12 million tonnes. The country now enjoys the second position in the world after China with regard to fisheries and aquaculture production,” he said at the inaugural ceremony of the International conference on “Asian Pacific Aqua Culture 2019” at the Chennai Trade Centre.
The three-day conference is hosted by Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University (TNJFU), Nagapattinam, in collaboration with the World Aquaculture Society’s Asian Pacific Chapter (WAS-APC).
Mr. Purohit said that inland fisheries accounts for 66.81% of the fish production in the country. “Consequently, freshwater aquaculture, which had a share of only 34% in inland fisheries in mid-1980s, has gone up to about 80% in recent years,” he added.
He said Tamil Nadu, which has the second longest coastline among Indian States, houses more than 10 lakh fishermen. “The State has taken a number of steps to promote both marine and inland fisheries and I am sure that with the assistance of the organisers of today’s function many more innovative suggestions will be available for implementation so as to promote the welfare of the fishermen of the state,” he said.
Mr. Purohit presented the ‘Padmashree Prof. N. Balakrishnan Nair Environmental Excellence Award’ to S. Felix, Vice-Chancellor of TNJFU and president of WAS-APC. He released three books on advanced topics of aquaculture.
D. Jayakumar, Minister for Fisheries and Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Tamil Nadu and Pro-Chancellor of TNJFU, said the State government had been taking a number of steps such as promoting deep-sea fishing and seamless communication system to ensure safety and security fishermen.
The State planned to increase fish production by three times to 5.92 lakh tonnes from 1.97 lakh tonnes.
The Governor inaugurated the international trade show. The trade show has 225 stalls and displaying modern technologies, aquaculture inputs, modern machines, feeds, fish medicines, fish products, among others.
K. Gopal, Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries; and Dr. Farshad Shishehchian, International Co-Chair, Asian Pacific Aquaculture 2019; Dr. J.K.Jena, Deputy Director General (Fisheries); Graham C. Mair, Senior Aquaculture Officer, Food and Agriculture Organisation, Italy and other dignitaries participated in the event.