India's marine fish production shows a sign of revival with the annual marine fish landings in 2017 registering 5.6 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
According to a release by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), the total marine fish landings in India (excluding Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands) in 2017 was 3.83 million tonnes.
Gujarat remained at the top position for the fifth consecutive year contributing 7.86 lakh tonnes (20.5 per cent of total landings) followed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala, it said.
This is the highest catch after a record-high landings in 2012.
Marine fish landings improved in all maritime states other than Tamil Nadu and a palpable dip in the Union Territories of Puducherry and Daman and Diu.
Revival of oil sardine in the western coastal states especially in Kerala played a major role in improving the country's marine fish production this time.
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However, the east coast witnessed a decline in the oil sardine catch with 83 per cent drop in Andhra Pradesh and 36 per cent in Tamil Nadu compared to 2016.
A total of 788 marine fish species were landed this time along the Indian coast with maximum numbers landed along the Tamil Nadu coast followed by Kerala and Maharashtra.
Indian oil sardine, which was showing a decreasing trend for the past few years, topped the list of marine fishery resources this time with a landing of 3.37 lakh tonnes (8.8 per cent of total landings) registering an increase of 38 per cent all over India.
In what must come as a good news to Kerala, the landings of oil sardine recorded a massive increase of 176 per cent in the state compared to the catch in 2016 which was the record-lowest within the last two decades.
At all India level, catch of Indian mackerel also increased whereas the landings of Hilsa shad, threadfin breams and tuna dropped this year.
Significant increase of mackerel was recorded in West Bengal, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, the CMFRI said.
The Cyclone Ockhi that hit during the end of 2017 had a devastating effect on the marine fisheries sectors of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The two states suffered an estimated drop of around 35,000 tonnes of fish due to Ockhi disaster in December 2017 with an estimated economic loss of Rs 585 crore at landing centre level and Rs 821 crore in retail level.
Compared to the previous year, 57 per cent fishing efforts were reduced owing to the cyclone which caused the loss in December last year.
According to A Gopalakrishnan, Director of CMFRI, the present marine fish catch is the second historical highest in India.
The upsurge in the marine fish production is a promising trend and it is observed that some new resources are emerging as the major fishery in many maritime states, he said.
"The landing data also shows that the recent fishing regulations such as Minimum Legal Size (MLS) and other regulatory measures suggested by the CMFRI have greatly helped Kerala and other maritime states to improve their fishery," he added.