Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh said that the government will take steps to fortify the fishing sector’s foundation over the next five years, with a particular focus on raising annual seafood exports to Rs 1 lakh crore from roughly Rs 60,000 crore in the previous fiscal year on Wednesday. The minister pointed out that since independence, the fishing industry which supports the livelihoods of over 3 crore fishermen and fish farmers has not received enough attention.

Singh said the government has made a number of steps since 2014 to foster the expansion of this significant industry, such as the introduction of the PMSSY program, which has a budget of more than Rs 20,000 crore. As a result of these measures, the country’s fish production has increased to 175.45 lakh tonnes in 2023-24 from 95.79 lakh tonnes in 2013-14.

In order to contribute to the larger goal of making India a developed country by 2029, the government stated that the sector’s foundation needs to be strengthened and that it will concentrate on that during the next five years.

According to Singh, the nation exports seafood valued at more than Rs 60,000 crore to about 130 nations, with the goal of raising this total to Rs 1 lakh crore yearly. The minister reported that he had recently met with numerous exporters who emphasised the need to combat illnesses in order to increase shipments abroad. He further added that a committee has been formed to suggest ways to tackle this problem and assured that the government would take measures based on the recommendations.

The minister highlighted that the government is providing one lakh transponders to fishermen, which will help them in maintaining contacts with their families and also the local administration when they are in deep sea undertaking fishing. He continued, saying that these transponders will alert them if they cross any sea borders.

According to an official statement, the centre has spearheaded the transformation of the fisheries sector through the Blue Revolution with formulation and implementation of schemes for investing Rs 38,572 crore since 2014. Key projects include the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF),  which has been in operation since 2018–19 and has a fund size of Rs 7,522.48 crore; the Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries, which was implemented from 2015–16 to 2019–20 with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore; the PMMSY, which was implemented for a period of five years (2020–21 to 2024–25) with an investment of Rs 20,050 crore; and the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY), which has an investment plan of Rs 6,000 crore.

(with PTI inputs)