WB want fisheries ministry, Swaminathan agrees

The state fisheries department would like a national fisheries development board to be set up on the lines of the existing dairy development board.

Speaking at the "Fish for All" summit, Kironmoy Nanda, state fisheries' minister, said that if the central government and the Planning Commission gave priority to the sector then the respective state governments would also give it priority.

A separate ministry for fisheries should also be considered. Communication between farmers and scientists would have to be improved to increase yields, more so in view of the employment generation potential of the sector. More than one crore people were engaged in fisheries in just coastal areas, along the coastline of more than 8,000 km.

M S Swaminathan, chairman of the organising committee, spoke about four issues facing the sector - availability, profitability, sustainability and affordability. He said there was a need to bridge the gap between scientific know-how and field level do-how.

Swaminathan pointed out that the National Commission for Agriculture had recommended a separate ministry for fisheries and also a fisheries policy.

As part of "Fish for All" initiative at the country level, the "National Fish for All Summit" was launched in Kolkata. The initiative would focus on development of an integrated production, processing, marketing and consumption system.

Initially, a social and scientific strategy would have to be developed for enhancing productivity, ensuring adoption of sustainable fishery practices, establishing agro-aqua farms and spreading literacy among fishery-dependent families.