Financing and Marketing Management

Unit 2- Cooperative movement in fisheries in India

2.3. Status of Indian fishery co-operative movement
Fisheries sector plays a strategic role in Indian economy by contributing to national income, exports, food and nutritional security and employment generation. In recent years, the development of fisheries has been considered to be an important activity because it is a powerful income and employment generator as it stimulates the growth of a number of subsidiary industries.
India has a vast fisheries resource potential. It has 2.02 million sq. km of area EXCLUSIVE Economic Zone (EEZ) adjoining a coastline of 8129 km length. Against the potential of producing 8.4 million tonnes of fish per annum based on the maximum sustainable yield levels from both the inland and marine fishery resources, the present level of production is 5.26 million tonnes.
Rural development in India for many years to come will be primarily agricultural development, since more than 67 per cent of our rural people still depend on agriculture. Co-operations are not an end in itself but a means to achieve a goal; to achieve economic and social growth. The Co-operative movement in India began in the first decade of the 20th century. The future of our Co-operative movement is to nurture and promote grass root level Co-operative organizations such as Fishery Co-operatives, wherever appropriate in all the spears of Agriculture.