Sustainable Capture based aquaculture in India: Status and Prospects

India is the fourth largest producer of fish in the world and the total fish \nproduction is around 7.5 million tonnes per year and its share in the GDP is \naround 1.4 per cent. The marine fishproduction was 3.2 million tonnes for \nthe year 2008 which form 42.7 per cent of the total fish production. With \ncontinued human pressure on marine fisheries and ocean resources, \naquaculture has become one of the most promising avenues for increasing \nmarine fish production in the future. On a global scale, the decline of fish \nstocks has been a motivating factor for expanding the role of aquaculture. \nIt is well known that the ready availability of seed in adequate quantities is \none of the major constraints in the development and expansion of \nmariculture. In this context, the concept of capture based \naquaculturejmariculture is considered as a viable option for augmenting \nproduction of high value species.