Why We Don't Catch More Fish

Outdated technology and poor knowledge are
to blame for our inability to catch more fish, reports Biplab Das 

Right now, India is the third largest producer of fish just after Japan and China. "But we may soon lose the status if we don't equip ourselves with current technology," said Dr. S. Ayyappan, director, Central Institute of Fisheries Education (deemed university), Mumbai, in the H. K. Mookherjee Memorial Lecture. 

The lecture was organised by the Zoological Society of India (ZSI) on July 19, at the department of botany, Calcutta University. "Prof. Mookherjee had a keen interest in fisheries, though he pursued his research in embryology and made some outstanding contributions to the discipline," said Prof. N. C. Dutta, former head, department of zoology, Calcutta University, in his inaugural lecture. 

In his lecture, Dr. Ayyappan discussed the major drawbacks of Indian pisciculture. According to him, Indian fishermen fail to reap benefit from deep sea fishing due to lack of proper training and guidelines. "Researchers have identified 40 species of edible fishes, but the fishermen are able to capture only 12 of them," he said. One reason for this, as Dr. Ayyappan pointed out, is the outdated boats used by the fishermen. "With these boats, it is possible to go only three miles off the shore, while the Indian territory extends to 12 miles." 

Moreover, the fishermen catch those fish without having any idea about their breeding habits, genetic potentialities and other aspects of marine ecology, which adds to the problem. 

With a large number of rivers and waterbodies, India possesses a wide variety of fish. The rivers extend over 17,000 miles and other subsidiary water channels comprise 70,000 miles. "We are unable to utilise those waterbodies for inland fisheries, lamented Dr. Ayyappan. "Inland fisheries have exploited only 10 per cent of the total brackish water available," Dr. Ayyappan said. "That too, is dominated by prawn culture." 

Inbreeding is another ill plaguing the industry. It reduces genetic variation, making fishes less adaptable to changing environments and more prone to diseases. 

Application of antibiotics in wrong doses by the fishermen is one of the major problems of Indian fisheries, said Dr. Ayyappan. "Studies have shown that high levels of chlorine and antibiotics deteriorate the water quality," he mentioned. "Like all other problems, this one also stems from lack of knowledge and guidelines." 

According to Dr. Ayyappan, it is the duty of fishery research institutes and scientists to make the fishermen updated with recent knowledge. "Otherwise, the situation may go beyond control in the near future," he cautioned.