Coastal Aquaculture and Mariculture (2+1)

Unit 1 - Shore based aquaculture and mariculture

1.3. Resources for Shore-based aquaculture and seafarming in india

• Sea farming has become a promising area of aquaculture all over the world and is one of the most important and rapidly growing components of Asian aquaculture contributing substantially to the increased demand for high value seafood items in the global market.
• India has a long tradition of aquaculture from time immemorial and is a leader in the world after China, contributing to about 5.2% of the total production in 2003.
• A sub continent, with seas all around on three sides, India has a long coastline of about 8129 km. The country’s continental shelf is estimated as 0.5 million square km, within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that extends to 2.2 million square km.
• The southern edge of the Indian peninsula extends in to the Indian Ocean, with the Bay of Bengal in its eastern part and the Arabian Sea in the west. The main land is surrounded by groups of islands both in the east as well as the west coasts.
• The Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands are located in the Bay of Bengal, while the Lakshadweep group of islands are scattered in the Arabian Sea.
• The sea coast along the main land and around the islands provide vast scope for development of sea farming, which has considerable potential to augment production of seafood for the domestic as well as export markets.