Wholesale fish prices in India skyrocketed to 131 per cent since 2008 while India's appetite for fish has also shown a rising trend owing to higher incomes per-capita and urbanization.
This growth in fish consumption is leading to the over-exploitation and depletion of fish stocks in the country, reports the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
A sector-specific analysis of fish prices conducted by the ASSOCHAM shows that as of 2012-2013 the index value of fish has risen past 291 as opposed to just 126 in the 2008-09 period.
In addition, the growth of fish production has declined to only 3.5 per cent in 2012-13 when in the period of 2008-09 the growth was exactly double, 7 per cent. Marine fish prices increased around 91 per cent while wholesale inland fish prices skyrocketed to 200 per cent during the same period, pointed out National Secretary General of ASSOCHAM, D.S. Rawat.
“Rising fish prices has made the business financially unviable for fishing community and all the stakeholders, traders, processors and others involved in fishing related ancillary operations,” continued Rawat. “Growing urbanization and advent of supermarkets has led to growth in fish consumption across India but lack of poor post-harvesting equipment, inadequate food processing technology and storage facilities is bleeding the fishing industry and thereby significantly hampering its growth prospects.”
The ASSOCHAM report pointed out that there is a need to improve and modernise production methods and train fishermen who are still using traditional fishing methods, which in turn would lead to increase foreign exchange earnings and a higher share for India in the worldwide market.
The report suggests investing more money in the value added fish, ready-to-eat fish-based products and the development of technology for value addition and infrastructure for fish production based on the public private partnership (PPP) model.
The Indian population is very fond of fish, with many curry-based dishes based on fish, particularly in the coastal cities of India, where traditional fishing communities are over-exploiting the indigenous fish stock, reducing the catch and leading to the fast depletion of marine resources.
ASSOCHAM is urging the industry to protect and look after India’s marine ecosystems with responsible and sustainable fishing practices.