Fish Production in Rajasthan :

Rajasthan  possesses a large number of water bodies, which offer potential for development of capture and culture fisheries. State has freshwater as well as saline water resources. It has about 4.23 lakh ha. fresh water area besides 30,000 ha. area as rivers and canals, 80000 ha. waterlogged and 1.80 lakh ha. salt affected areas at full tank level.

Fish culture activities were looked after by Animal Husbandry Department up to 1981, but looking to the vast water resources available for the fisheries development, a separate department of fisheries was established in 1982 with the following mandate-

• Development and conservation of Fisheries resources 
• Ensure availability of quality fish seed.
• Increase fish production
• Employment generation.
• To promote diversification of aquaculture activities.
• To earn Revenue for the State.

Fisheries resources :

Total water resources available for fisheries in the State are 15838 no. of water bodies covering an area of 4,23,765 hectare excluding rivers and canals (30,000 ha.) and water logged area (80,000 ha.) at Full Tank Level (FTL). In addition to it 1,80,000 hectare salt affected area is also available.

About 77% of water bodies (no.) with 66% of FTL area are present in the three division of Ajmer, Udaipur and Kota. Also Seven districts namely Bhilwara, Sri Ganganagar, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Tonk, Ajmer and Udaipur have more than 25,000 ha. each of FTL area constituting as much as 67% of total resources area.

Resource wise reservoirs (>100 ha) constitute 66% of total FTL area though in terms of no. they form only about 3%. In other words, 97% of resources are tanks and ponds with FTL < 100 ha. and constitute about 34% of FTL area. Effective water spread area (EWSA) which makes the basis for all development planning is 2,00,322 ha. which is 37% of FTL are including rivers, canals and waterlogged areas. Resource wise EWSA has been calculated after factoring in certain resource specific characteristic   like seasonality, suitability for fish culture, extent of leased out area during past 5 years.

Fish Production :

Fish production was 28200 tons in 2010-11 from the average 35% of the total water area (FTL) utilized for fish culture with average productivity of 203 kg/ha. It has grown at the annual rate of 12.2% during last 8 years, above the national average 8%.

District wise fish production during last 10 years : About 60% of the total fish production comes from reservoirs and the rest from tanks and ponds.
Resource wise average productivity per hectare area is 56 kg. for large reservoir, 176 kg for small and medium reservoir, 286 kg for large tanks, 1125 kg for medium tanks and ponds, 1675 kg for small tanks and ponds and 2050 kg for ponds of water logged areas.
Productivity from reservoir is above the national average, while productivity of small water bodies is far less than the national average.

Fish Seed Production :

In order to bring all the available effective water spread area under scientific fish culture with optimum stocking density, 368.5 million fingerlings shall be required every year. This would demand seed production of 4865 million spawn and 1216 million fry every year. The total average seed supply is only 30% of estimated seed requirement. Further, only 25% of the present seed supply is met within Rajasthan, white the remaining is brought from other states mainly from Bareilly and Ramgarh region of U.P., Kolkata region of West Bengal and Bharauch and surat regions of Gujarat. Within Rajasthan, the public sector hatcheries and seed farms supply only 13% of the total, while another 12% comes from private hatchery as well as the rearing in private sector.

There are 28 government hatcheries/seed farms exist in the state. Most of the farms are non-functional. The reasons behind this are non availability of water or heavy seepage of soil and faulty layout/designs.

In addition there are 5 more hatcheries in Rajasthan one at college of fisheries, Udaipur one with RTADCF, Jaisamand and three private hatcheries viz. Choudhary Fish Hatchery, Hanumangarh, Lupin Fish Hatchery, Bharatpur and Thar Fish Hatchery, chatargarh, Bikaner.

Present Status :

State has made steady growth in inland fisheries during last three decades. Fish production has increased from 14000 mt. in 1980-81 to 28200 mt. in 2010-11. Area under fish culture and fish production both have gone up. Annual growth rate has gone 12.6% between 2000-01 and 2010-11 as compared to the national average 8%. About 60% of the total fish production comes from reservoir and the rest from tank & ponds. While the productivity of large reservoir (55 kg/ha.) is above the national average, productivity of small water bodies (1.2 mt/ha/yr) is far less than the national average. State ranks 18th in the country as regards the fish production.

Strength and Opportunities :

• 4.23 lakh ha water area in the form of reservoirs, tanks and ponds at the full reservoirs level.
• Fish Farmer's Development Agency (FFDA).
• Laboratories and technical expertise are available at Fisheries College of MPUAT.
• Subsidy 20% (Gen), 25% (SC/ST) for different activities (pond excavation, inputs, hatchery establishment and integrated fish farming).
• Inputs for fish based industries and fish markets.

Vision 2020 :

Department have prepared a perspective fisheries development plan with the aim to achieve potential fish production of 88277 mt. by increasing both productivity & area through stock enhancement with appropriate seed size & quality by the end of 2020 and fish production of 1,36,311 tons with average productivity of 725 kg/ha by adopting intensive fish culture technology beyond 2020. It is estimated that more than 70,000 livelihood may be sustained directly in fisheries sector by the end of 2020.

The total seed demand would be 368.5 million fingerlings/year, while the present supply is only 30% of the demand. The huge demand supply gap has to be bridged-up by producing seed within the State. We have already started innovative scheme for promoting hatcheries and rearing area in private sector under RKVY ( Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana ). We have planned to establish hygienic and modern fish markets in all districts having moderate and high potential for fisheries. Establishment of modern wholesale market in the Jaipur city has started this venture. We are also prepared to start diversifying the aquaculture activity. Establishment of ornamental fresh culture units and fish cum prawn culture under RKVY has clicked the program.