Context: Recently, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying will inaugurate the ‘Sagar Parikrama’  to know the problems of Coastal Fisher folk.
Status of Fisheries Sector in India

• India is the second major producer of fish through aquaculture in the world.
• India is the 4th largest exporter of fish in the world as it contributes 7.7% to the global fish production.
• Currently, this sector provides livelihood to more than 2.8 crore people within the country. Nevertheless, this is a sector with untapped potential.
• The fisheries sector has demonstrated double-digit average annual growth of 10.87 % since 2014-15 with record fish production of 145 lakh tons during 2020-21 as per the Economic Survey for 2021-22 
• Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture sector registering an average annual growth of 7.53% during the last 5 years. The country exported 12.89 lakh metric tons of fisheries products valued at Rs 46,662 crore (USD 6.68 billion) during 2019-20.
• Despite challenges pertaining to infrastructure, the measures by the Central government in the past recent years ensured that the fisheries sector continued to register an annual growth rate of more than 10%.

About Sagar Parikrama

• Organized by: Ministry of Fisheries, National Fisheries Development Board along with Government of Gujarat, Indian Coast Guard, Fishery Survey of India and Gujarat Maritime Board.
• Purpose: It is a navigation journey to be conducted in all coastal states/UTs through a pre-decided sea route to demonstrate solidarity with all fisherfolk, fish farmers and concerned stakeholders.
• The journey shall focus on the sustainable balance between the utilization of marine fisheries resources for food security of the nation and livelihoods of coastal fisher communities and protection of marine ecosystems.
• Part of: This initiative has been launched as a part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava’ (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava is one of the significant initiatives of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of independence and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements).

Key Significance

• It will  focus on sustainable balance between the utilisation of marine fisheries resources for food security of the nation and livelihoods of coastal fisher communities and protection of marine ecosystems. 
• Oceans are vital to the economies, security and livelihoods of Indian coastal states. 
• The Country has a coastline of 8118km, covering 9 maritime States/4UTs and providing livelihood support to millions of coastal fisher folk. 

By: Shubham Tiwari