Bill to decriminalise offences in coastal aquaculture activities passed

Parliament on Wednesday passed the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which aims to decriminalise the offences committed in carrying out coastal aquaculture activities and ensure ease of doing business.

The bill was cleared by the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote on Wednesday. It was passed in the Lok Sabha on August 7.

Replying to a debate on the bill in Rajya Sabha, Parshottam Rupala, Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said that India has benefitted from green revolution and white revolution.

"Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, India will have blue revolution which will take the fisherman community ahead," Rupala said.

The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill also seeks to expand the scope, remove regulatory gaps and reduce the compliance burden without diluting environmental protection rules in the coastal areas.

To decriminalise the offences, the bill seeks to remove the jail term of up to three years and impose only a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh.

It also seeks to fine-tune the operational procedures of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority to make it more responsive to the needs of the stakeholders, promote newer forms of environment-friendly coastal aquaculture like cage culture and seaweed culture, and usher in global best practices in this sector, including mapping and zonation of aquaculture areas, quality assurance and safe aquaculture products.

The bill also seeks to encourage the establishment of facilities in areas having direct access to seawater to produce genetically improved and disease-free broodstocks and seed for use in coastal aquaculture besides preventing the use of antibiotics and pharmacologically active substances, which are harmful to human health in coastal aquaculture.