AHMEDABAD, 22 Nov: The central government is committed to provide steadfast support to traditional fishing communities in their transition to deep-sea fishing, asserted union minister L.Murugan on Wednesday.
This support will be extended through the centre’s schemes namely, the Blue Revolution and the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, said the union minister of state for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying.
Murugan was speaking at a technical session on ‘Deep-Sea Fishing: Technology, Resources, and Economics’ at the ‘Global Fisheries Conference India 2023’ here.
The two-day fisheries conference at Science City in Ahmedabad was inaugurated by union cabinet minister of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Parshottam Rupala on Tuesday.
“The government is providing up to 60 per cent financial assistance to traditional fishermen to convert their vessels into deep-sea fishing boats. Additionally, loan facilities are also available to facilitate this transformation,” an official release of the ministry quoted Murugan as saying at the conference.
He emphasized the need for modern fishing vessels equipped with in-built processing facilities to maintain international quality standards for deep-sea resources like tuna.
Acknowledging that traditional fishermen currently lack these capabilities, the junior minister said the government is committed to address this gap.
Attending the two days global fisheries conference, Arunachal Pradesh fisheries minister Tage Taki has urged upon the counties like Norway, New Zealand , Denmark, Australia to extend technical assistance and for transfer of improved technology for development of cold water fisheries sector especially, trout culture and post harvesting management infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh.
Taki also sought the support of the central government for development of cold water fishery sector in Arunachal.
Highlighting the high value of deep-sea resources, deputy commissioner of fisheries, GoI, Sanjay Pandey pointed out that ‘Indian Ocean Yellowfin Tuna,’ a fish variety, has an end value of more than USD 4 billion.
World Bank consultant Dr. Arthur Neiland said despite the promising potential of yellowfin and skipjack tunas in India’s EEZ, with an estimated harvest of 179,000 tonnes, the actual catch is a mere 25,259 tonnes, indicating an utilization rate of only 12 per cent.
He emphasized the need for investment from public and private sectors in deep-sea fishing which could generate economic, social and environmental benefits. (with inputs from PTI)
