Degradation of inshore fishing grounds poses real crisis for India's fisheries
Official claims of sustainable marine fish stocks in India are misleading, as the real crisis lies in the severe degradation of inshore fishing grounds. While the government reports high sustainability based on landing data, experts and fishers observe a consistent decline in catches and disappearance of species. This degradation is attributed to factors like dam construction, mangrove destruction, pollution, and critically, the uncontrolled expansion of mechanized trawling. The oversized trawler fleet, operating with weak regulations, continuously ploughs the seabed, destroying marine life and creating conflicts with small-scale fishers, pushing them to offshore zones.
Key Points
- Official claims of sustainable marine fish stocks in India are questioned due to the degradation of inshore fishing grounds.
- The decline in inshore ecosystems is caused by factors such as dam construction, mangrove destruction, pollution, and uncontrolled mechanized trawling.
- Mechanized trawling, an introduced method, has expanded significantly with weak regulations, damaging seabed ecology.
- The current fisheries policy is criticized for wasting the potential of inshore waters and pushing fishers to distant zones.
Exam Facts
- Government claims 91.1% of 135 fish stocks evaluated in 2022 were sustainable.
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is more reserved in its assessment of Indian marine fisheries.
- India has 64,414 mechanized fishing vessels.
- The territorial seas refer to waters within 12 nautical miles (22 km) from shore.
- FAO estimates only a marginal increase through exploitation of deep-sea resources.
Read it. Retain it. Recall it.
Get spaced-repetition flashcards, daily quizzes and offline access — free on Android.