Inland fish production tripled in nine years under Modi government: Union Minister Rupala

AHMEDABAD : Inland fish production in India has almost tripled in the last nine years, Union Minister Shri Parshottam Rupala said on Tuesday. He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of ‘Global Fisheries Conference India 2023’ organised by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying at Science City here on the occasion of World Fisheries Day.

“Fisheries is India’s sunrise sector and PM Shri Narendra Modi has given priority to it. Our country today ranks third globally in terms of fish production and we are connected with the world through this trade. Country’s inland fish production has almost tripled in the last nine years and still, there are immense growth opportunities,” said Shri Rupala.

Addressing a press conference later, Shri Rupala said the Modi government, since 2015, has allocated Rs 38,000 crore under different schemes including the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojna, whereas only Rs 3,680 crore was allocated to this sector by the previous governments till 2014.

Shri Rupala said this was the first time when a global fisheries conference was being organised in India.

Ministers of seven states and representatives of various organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Bank, along with representatives of nine different countries, are attending this conference, the Union minister said.

Underlining that the livelihood of nearly 8 crore people is dependent on the fisheries sector, Rupala said challenges, opportunities, and best practices for this sector will be discussed during the global conference on fisheries in two days.

Shri Rupala said his ministry has approved the development of five fishing harbours in Gujarat. On the occasion, Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel declared ‘Ghol’ as the state fish of Gujarat.

Notably, Ghol fish, commonly called the black-spotted croaker fish, is one of the most expensive varieties of fish available in the country.

At the conference, Gujarat CM Patel said Gujarat’s annual fish export stands at Rs 5,000 crore, which is 17 per cent of the total fish export from India.