{"id":5990,"date":"2025-11-24T12:47:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/?p=5990"},"modified":"2025-11-25T08:45:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T08:45:16","slug":"world-fisheries-day-2025-why-inland-aquaculture-remains-keralas-biggest-missed-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/?p=5990","title":{"rendered":"World Fisheries Day 2025: Why inland aquaculture remains Kerala\u2019s biggest missed opportunity?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Observed as World Fisheries Day (World Fisheries Day 2025), highlighting the critical role of sustainable fisheries in ensuring food security, supporting livelihoods, and maintaining ecological balance.<\/mark><\/strong><\/em><\/h5>

India, the world\u2019s second-largest fish producer and a leading shrimp exporter, supports over 30 million livelihoods, with 72% of its fish sourced from coastal regions. Recent GST reforms, lowering rates on seafood, aim to make it more affordabchale domestically and boost the global competitiveness of Indian fisheries. This year\u2019s theme, \u201cIndia\u2019s Blue Transformation\u201d, focuses on sustainability through international delegations and the launch of new frameworks and guidelines for traceable and market-ready seafood.<\/p>

As the country celebrates its progress, the moment also offers an opportunity to assess how individual states are faring within this national vision. Against this backdrop, Kerala\u2019s fisheries sector demands urgent attention.<\/p>

The state, despite its rich maritime heritage and vast water resources, now stands at a crossroads, reflecting on the weakening state of its fisheries sector\u2014even after proudly receiving the Best Marine State Award in 2024 from the Union Ministry of Fisheries,<\/em> Animal Husbandry and Dairying. According to the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), the state is currently able to meet only 60% of its own fish demand, highlighting a widening gap between consumption and local production.<\/p>

Adding to the concern, projections by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) indicate that if this trajectory continues, Kerala may be forced to source nearly half (i.e., 50%) of its fish requirements from other states by 2035, underscoring the need for immediate and sustained intervention. To address this widening supply\u2013demand gap, Kerala must look inward by harnessing the vast potential of inland fisheries and aquaculture, as recommended by the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies.<\/p>

This shift becomes even more compelling in light of the FAO\u2019s 2019 findings that overfished marine stocks have risen by 34.5%, stressing the urgency to ease pressure on marine ecosystems. While the marine sector remains vital to building a strong blue economy, the contributions of inland fisheries and aquaculture are equally indispensable.The Fisheries Handbook of 2021 illustrates that Andhra Pradesh leads India\u2019s fisheries sector primarily through its inland resources, with 87% of its total fish production (48.13 lakh tonnes) coming from inland fisheries.<\/p>

Kerala, by comparison, derives only 27% of its fish production from inland sources. This disparity persists despite Kerala possessing 427.46 thousand hectares of inland water resources, significantly more than Andhra\u2019s 283.6 thousand hectares. Yet Andhra Pradesh produced 42.19 lakh tonnes of inland fish, while Kerala managed only 2.25 lakh tonnes in 2021\u20132022\u2014underscoring how much potential remains unrealised.<\/p>

A closer look at Kerala\u2019s 2.25 lakh tonnes of inland fish production reveals another critical issue: only 15% comes from cultured fisheries, while a staggering 85% is derived from capture fisheries. Unlike Andhra Pradesh, where ponds, reservoirs, brackish waters, groundwater and even paddy fields are widely used for large-scale, export-oriented aquaculture through companies and cooperatives, Kerala has been slow to adopt such practices.<\/p>

The success of coastal Andhra is built on simple and enabling regulations, whereas Kerala\u2019s stringent regulatory framework often discourages fishermen and farmers from pursuing full-time aquaculture.For example, the existing Kerala Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Act of 2010 introduced licensing requirements for fisheries operations in public and private ponds, water channels, and brackish water areas.<\/p>

Further, its 2021 amendment, which restructured Section 5 and added Subsection 11, inadvertently created additional hurdles for paddy farmers by seeking a licence for filtration. While Section 3 of the Kerala Paddy and Wetland Conservation Act of 2008 allows intermediate fishing in paddy fields, the filtration licence has affected the possibility of scaling up filtration-based aquaculture (Cheemeen kettu). As a result, many integrated paddy farmers switch to other intermediate crops like yam, despite the fact that aquaculture could yield significantly higher returns, according to the farmers of the Kerala Independent Farmers\u2019 Association (KIFA)<\/p>

.These restrictions have also contributed to the decline of Kerala\u2019s traditional integrated farming systems of Pokkali and Kaipad. These systems once demonstrated how paddy, prawns (chemmeen), and ducks could coexist naturally, maintaining ecological balance while supporting local livelihoods. For generations, farmers followed a simple 60:40 rhythm between paddy and aquaculture that sustained both people and the land. Today, that balance is fading.<\/p>

Pokkali farmers struggle to market their unique rice and face tedious bureaucratic processes to obtain licences for filtration even while practising traditional catch fisheries.The involvement of multiple agencies\u2014namely the Padasekhara Samithi, panchayats, Krishi Bhavans, and Fisheries Departments\u2014together with the unpredictability of climate, has made integrated paddy\u2013fish cultivation increasingly unviable. In Kerala, the cost\u2013benefit ratio of paddy farming is 1.31 and is much lower for niche varieties like Pokkali.<\/p>

In this scenario, cultivating Pokkali without fish culture does not justify the toiling, time, and energy farmers put in to navigate between these intermediaries and regulations. As a result, many farmers are abandoning their fields, leaving them fallow or seeking exemption to convert them via Section 27A of the 2018 Amendment of the Paddy and Wetland Conservation Act, hence collapsing the rural economy built around agriculture.<\/p>

Currently, Kerala\u2019s aquaculture sector represents a wider paradox: a state with natural endowments but cuffed by its own regulations and administrative bottlenecks. Kerala needs to reconsider its land-use and licensing regulations in light of fairness and sustainability. Paddy fields and wetlands must be preserved, but not at the cost of stagnant economic growth.<\/p>

If Kerala aligns its administrative policy with the ideals of the Blue Revolution (by strengthening its inland fisheries and aquaculture), it can once again become a leader in fisheries (as in 1992\u20131993). Fallow paddy fields in Kerala can provide an opportunity for aquaculture growth, which in turn can ensure improved livelihoods and a sustainable future\u2014one in which the state\u2019s waters support its people and economy by converting fallow lands into aquaculture zones.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Observed as World Fisheries Day (World Fisheries Day 2025), highlighting the critical role of sustainable fisheries in ensuring food security, supporting livelihoods, and maintaining ecological balance. India, the world\u2019s second-largest fish producer and a leading shrimp exporter, supports over 30 million livelihoods, with 72% of its fish sourced from coastal regions. Recent GST reforms, lowering Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[164],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dovegelpacks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}