Handbook on Fisheries Statistics 2022

India’s total fish production for 2021-22 was 162.48 lakh tonnes, about 15 lakh tonnes more than the previous year. Of this overall figure, inland fish production accounted for 121.21 lakh tonnes whereas marine fish production made up 41.27 lakh tonnes.

In the case of marine fish production – fishing carried out in the ocean or saltwater regions – Gujarat ranked highest with 6.88 lakh tonnes of fish produce. It was followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu with 6.01 lakh tonnes and 5.95 lakh tonnes of marine fish produce respectively.

Of the overall inland fish production in the country in 2021-22, Andhra Pradesh accounted for the most – 42.19 lakh tonnes. It was followed by West Bengal (16.52 lakh tonnes) and Uttar Pradesh (8.09 lakh tonnes).

India exported fish products worth 7.76 billion US dollars or Rs. 57,586 crores in 2021-22. The quantity of fish products exported during this time was 13.6 lakh tonnes.

Citing data from the Marine Products Export Development Authority, Government of India, Kochi, the handbook states that frozen shrimp accounted for 53.18 per cent (728,123 metric tons) of the exports in 2021-22. The item with the second-highest exports was frozen fish. It made up 226,586 metric tons of the overall exports.

Among all the states in India, Tripura recorded the highest per capita per year consumption of fish in 2020-21 at 25.53 kilograms. It was followed by Manipur (18.25 kilograms), Kerala (17.93 kilograms) and Odisha (16.34 kilograms).

The total fish catch in 2020-21 was 137.07 lakh tonnes, a 15.2 lakh tonne increase compared to 2019-20. Of this total fish catch, 105.64 lakh tonnes were sent for sale in the market, 18.49 lakh tonnes were frozen, and 3.92 lakh tonnes were cured.

Total fisherfolk (fish farmers, fish workers and fishers) in India numbered 28.06 million. Of these, those engaged in inland fisheries (23.1 million) far outnumbered those practising marine fisheries (4.9 million).

The overall female fishermen population in the country was recorded to be around 12 million whereas that of male fishermen was 15 million. As per the handbook, the highest population of fisherfolk was found in Bihar at 6.02 million. It was followed by Uttar Pradesh (3.9 million), West Bengal (3.2 million) and Assam (2.5 million).

Of the total fishermen engaged in marine fisheries, 1.2 million had fisheries as their ‘full time’ occupation whereas 0.49 million worked at it in a ‘part time’ capacity. In inland fisheries, 0.49 million female fishermen and 1.3 million male fishermen worked ‘full time’. The ‘part time’ female and male fishermen in inland fisheries numbered 0.59 million and 1.2 million respectively.

Data from state government showed that a total of Rs. 70,665 lakhs were released for the development of the fisheries sector in 2020-21. Of this Rs. 49,160 lakhs were central funds whereas Rs. 21,504 lakhs were state funds.

Focus and Factoids by Siddhant Garud.