Inland Fisheries: Challenging Issues & Management Strategies in Indian Context

Abstract

Inland capture and culture fisheries is an important sector of Indian agriculture, providing employment, food and nutritional security, particularly to the rural poor and better access to protein-rich food for all. The country has shown continuous and sustained increments in fish production, since independence. The inland fisheries are composed of mainly three components i.e. fisheries resources, fish & fishers. The sector has vast production potential, particularly for inland aquaculture and culture-based fisheries resources. But nowadays, the sector is facing various challenging issues like environmental pressures, overexploitation, inadequate database & catch information, unequal gender participation, lack of sufficient infrastructure and inadequate governance systems. In order to overcome these issues, a holistic approach is required to manage the inland fisheries by involving its major components which are fisheries resources, fish & fishers. This is the need of the hour to take action in a collaborative manner by government, scientists, fishery managers, fishers and multiple resource users for sustainable management of inland fisheries resources by encompassing the concept of Ecosystem-based fisheries management. We all need to be responsible for our duties towards the conservation and management of aquatic resources, not only for conserving the wealth of inland fisheries for the present but for future generations also.