650
Summary
1. Development and management of fi sheries
and aquaculture resources are aimed at providing sustainable livelihoods to rural poor
communities and overall economic growth
of the province with due considerations to
environmental well-being, gender concerns,
socio-economic and cultural aspirations of
the people and with special attention to fi shers and fi sh farmers.
2. The economy of the globe, particularly of
the developing nations, is dependent, to a
very big extent, on agriculture, animal husbandry and fi sheries. Fisheries and aquaculture sectors play a key role in food security
and employment generation for signifi cant
proportion of the global population.
3. Among many provinces, the province of
Bihar has embarked upon ambitious plans
for rationalisation of the use of wetlands and
fi sheries. Citing Bihar as a typical example,
it could be emphasised that there is a need to
bridge the gap between demand and supply
of food fi sh and fi sh seed by effective and
sustainable utilisation of available resources.
Some of the salient features of the specifi c objectives of Fisheries Policy could be
as follows:
(a) To promote development and management of all fi sheries and aquaculture
resources to become a surplus region in
food fi sh and seed fi sh production. This
could be done in an ecologically sound,
economically viable and socioculturally
compatible manner.
(b) To provide adequate, sustainable and
equitable livelihood to fi shers and fi sh
farmers and to ensure availability of cheap
and quality fi sh for all.
(c) To generate entrepreneurial and employment opportunities and facilitate creation
of necessary infrastructure facilities
through public–private investment and
industry–institution partnership in fi sheries and aquaculture sector.
4. Timely, complete and reliable statistics on
potential resources, status of utilisation,
resource-wise and species-wise production
and productivity levels, catch and fi shing
effort, different socio-economic parameters
and market information are essential for formulation of relevant policies, programmes
and action plans.
5. At present, an established and full proof system for systematic and regular collection of
data on fi sheries is largely lacking. Crude
estimations and approximations with wide
margins of error, sometimes, form the basis
of development planning and management.
There is also a need for maintaining a
computerised database for easy retrieval of
data. Remote sensing and Geographical
Information System (GIS) mechanism may
be applied for survey of various resources
especially the open waterbodies to be followed by ground truth exercises.
6. The policy may propose to bring aquaculture
at par with agriculture in terms of credit,
taxation, energy charges, water tariff and
land allocation owing to the similarities
between the two sectors in the resource use
pattern, providing livelihood support to people and so on. The policy may also envisage
that all types of waterbodies which are <10 ha
in size may be brought under composite fi sh
culture through improved scientifi c techniques and try to achieve an annual average
productivity of 3,000–5,000 kg/ha. In this
regard, the oxbow wetlands could serve as
potential habitats for aquaculture.
7. Concomitant to the oxbow lakes, the fl oodplains and the other wetlands are also lentic
bodies which have enough potential for fi sh
farming.
8. The policy may endeavour to recognise this
unique property regime and envisage cooperative or collective management of these
waterbodies, wherein crop cultivation
could be integrated with fi sheries, i.e. crop
cultivation under individual management
while fi sh culture under collective
management.
9. Policy statement of the Department of
Water Resources in many countries may be
recognised with due emphasis. The reservoirs are constructed primarily for generation
30 Developmental Activities in Wetlands
Summary
1. Development and management of fi sheries
and aquaculture resources are aimed at providing sustainable livelihoods to rural poor
communities and overall economic growth
of the province with due considerations to
environmental well-being, gender concerns,
socio-economic and cultural aspirations of
the people and with special attention to fi shers and fi sh farmers.
2. The economy of the globe, particularly of
the developing nations, is dependent, to a
very big extent, on agriculture, animal husbandry and fi sheries. Fisheries and aquaculture sectors play a key role in food security
and employment generation for signifi cant
proportion of the global population.
3. Among many provinces, the province of
Bihar has embarked upon ambitious plans
for rationalisation of the use of wetlands and
fi sheries. Citing Bihar as a typical example,
it could be emphasised that there is a need to
bridge the gap between demand and supply
of food fi sh and fi sh seed by effective and
sustainable utilisation of available resources.
Some of the salient features of the specifi c objectives of Fisheries Policy could be
as follows:
(a) To promote development and management of all fi sheries and aquaculture
resources to become a surplus region in
food fi sh and seed fi sh production. This
could be done in an ecologically sound,
economically viable and socioculturally
compatible manner.
(b) To provide adequate, sustainable and
equitable livelihood to fi shers and fi sh
farmers and to ensure availability of cheap
and quality fi sh for all.
(c) To generate entrepreneurial and employment opportunities and facilitate creation
of necessary infrastructure facilities
through public–private investment and
industry–institution partnership in fi sheries and aquaculture sector.
4. Timely, complete and reliable statistics on
potential resources, status of utilisation,
resource-wise and species-wise production
and productivity levels, catch and fi shing
effort, different socio-economic parameters
and market information are essential for formulation of relevant policies, programmes
and action plans.
5. At present, an established and full proof system for systematic and regular collection of
data on fi sheries is largely lacking. Crude
estimations and approximations with wide
margins of error, sometimes, form the basis
of development planning and management.
There is also a need for maintaining a
computerised database for easy retrieval of
data. Remote sensing and Geographical
Information System (GIS) mechanism may
be applied for survey of various resources
especially the open waterbodies to be followed by ground truth exercises.
6. The policy may propose to bring aquaculture
at par with agriculture in terms of credit,
taxation, energy charges, water tariff and
land allocation owing to the similarities
between the two sectors in the resource use
pattern, providing livelihood support to people and so on. The policy may also envisage
that all types of waterbodies which are <10 ha
in size may be brought under composite fi sh
culture through improved scientifi c techniques and try to achieve an annual average
productivity of 3,000–5,000 kg/ha. In this
regard, the oxbow wetlands could serve as
potential habitats for aquaculture.
7. Concomitant to the oxbow lakes, the fl oodplains and the other wetlands are also lentic
bodies which have enough potential for fi sh
farming.
8. The policy may endeavour to recognise this
unique property regime and envisage cooperative or collective management of these
waterbodies, wherein crop cultivation
could be integrated with fi sheries, i.e. crop
cultivation under individual management
while fi sh culture under collective
management.
9. Policy statement of the Department of
Water Resources in many countries may be
recognised with due emphasis. The reservoirs are constructed primarily for generation
30 Developmental Activities in Wetlands