State-run Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) will implement a Rs 15-crore cage-farming project in Kerala to increase the domestic fish production, CMFRI said on Thursday.
India is the second-largest fish producer in the world after China and accounts for nearly 6% of global fish production.
The programme is aimed at improving the living standards of those in the coastal regions of the state, besides ensuring availability of quality and fresh fish across the state.
CMFRI will help in setting up 500 cage farming units which can rear species such as sea bass, pearl spot, cobia, pompano and red snapper.
Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) had recently commissioned a multi-species aquaculture complex at Vallarpadam in Kochi.
The farmers will be offered subsidy and technical support to carry out the cage culture under the scheme, which is funded by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad. The programme assumes significance in the wake of discussions on the quality of fishes coming into Kerala from other states.
According to CMFRI sources , 40% of the total expense will be given as subsidy to the farmers who can conduct farming individually or in groups. Women and those from the SC/ST category will get 60% subsidy.
In addition, three Aqua One Labs will be set up in the state to help farmers for the smooth conduct of the cage farming. The Lab will provide services such as water quality check, sediment analysis, seed transportation, disease management, among others. CMFRI will also manage setting up of a small scale fish feed mill by providing subsidy.
Approval will be given only after the CMFRI team reviews the spot and various conditions of the water resources for farming, including environmental factors.
Increased catch of oil sardines from the coast helped Kerala attain a growth of nearly 12% in the marine fish landings in 2017 with a total catch of 5.85 lakh tonne against 5.23 lakh tonne in 2016.