New Delhi, Nov 30 : The Centre's Department of Fisheries has accorded approvals to proposals worth Rs 4969.62 crore with a Central share of Rs 1823.58 crore during the last four financial years (FY2020-21 to FY2023-24) and the current fiscal year (FY25) to develop small fishing communities, traditional fishers and provide livelihood support to them.

Providing this information in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh said that the approvals have been given under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) which has been in effect since the financial year 2020-21 with an investment of Rs 20,050 crore for holistic development of the fisheries sector and welfare of fishers.

He said that to promote climate-resilient aquaculture, the Department, under PMMSY supports climate-resilient mariculture activities like seaweed and bivalve cultivation, open sea cage culture, installation of artificial reefs, Sea ranching, promotes Integrated fish farming and others to minimise environmental impacts mainly on traditional and small scale fishers. Proposals worth Rs 115.78 crore have been approved for this purpose.

Further, the Department of Fisheries has sanctioned for acquisition of 480 deep-sea fishing vessels for traditional fishermen, an up-gradation of 1,338 existing fishing vessels for export competency at an outlay of Rs 769.64 crore for promoting the livelihood of traditional fishermen.

Under the PMMSY, financial assistance has also been provided for livelihood and nutritional support to 5.94 lakh fishers annually for the traditional and socio-economically backward active marine and inland fishermen families during the fishing ban period and insurance coverage to 131.13 lakh fishers, the Minister said.

India's annual fish production has nearly doubled since 2014 to 17.5 million tonnes, with inland fishing now surpassing marine fishing, contributing 13.2 million tonnes.

The country has now become the second-largest fish producer globally, with around 30 million people involved in fish production across the value chain. India accounts for as much as 8 per cent of the world's total fish production.

/IANS