Fish production increased in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal, and came down in states such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu during 2018-19.
In a written reply to Shobha Karandlaje, Member of Parliament from Udupi-Chikmagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, said fish production in the country increased from 10.26 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 13.34 million tonnes in 2018-19. The production stood at 12.59 mt and 11.43 mt in 2017-18 and 2016-17, respectively.
Andhra Pradesh topped the list in fish production with 3.99 mt (2018-19), 3.44 mt (2017-18), and 2.76 mt (2016-17). This was followed by West Bengal at 1.77 mt , 1.74 mt and 1.7 mtduring 2018-19, 2017-18 and 2016-17, respectively.
Fish production came down from 0.60 mt (2017-18) to 0.58 mt illion tonnes (2018-19) in Karnataka, and from 0.83 million tonnes (2017-18) to 0.72 mt (2018-19) in Gujarat.
Export
The Minister said in the reply that the export of fish and fisheries products has witnessed a significant growth in the last five years. It increased from ₹33,441.61 crore during 2014-15 to ₹47,621 crore during 2018-19.
However, the export of fish and fisheries products from eight coastal states stood at 1.33 million tonnes in 2018-19 as against 1.37 million tonnes in 2017-18.
Barring Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, the export of fish and fisheries products came down in other states during 2018-19. The reply said that the export from Odisha is happening through the ports of West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, as no port is handling reefer cargo in Odisha.
Answering the query on the financial assistance given to states during the last three years for improving fishing infrastructure and strengthening processing and post-harvest management, he said the funds are released to the State governments and Union Territories based on the detailed proposals submitted by them.
During 2016-19, the Central financial assistance of ₹1186.89 crore has been released to the state and Union Territories for the development of fisheries including the fisheries infrastructure and post-harvest management. Of this, ₹480.68 crore was released in 2018-19, ₹322.16 crore in 2017-18, and ₹384.04 crore was released in 2016-17.
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