Fisheries Administration and Lagislation

Unit 3 - Fisheries development over five year plans

3.4. Investment in fisheries sector

One of the indicators of development policies and programmes is the allocation of resources for respective sector over different periods. Analysis of the allocation of funds highlights the push given for development of fisheries sector. The outlay for fisheries sector was about 5.13 crore in the first five year plan and it went to Rs. 1,946 crore in the X plan. Table 3.4 highlights the financial outlay made for fisheries sector during different plan periods in India.

Table 3.4 Outlay for fisheries sector during different Five –Year Plans, India. (Rs. in crores )

Five Year Plan	Total outlay	Outlay for agricultural sector	Outlay for fisheries sector	Share of fisheries sector (per cent)
				Total outlay	Agricultural outlay
First (1951-1956)	2378	354	5.13	0.22	1.45
Second (1956-61)	4500	501	12.26	0.27	2.45
Third (1961-66)	8577	1089	28.27	0.33	2.60
Annual Plan (1966-69)**	6625	1107	42.21	0.64	3.81
Fourth (1969-74)	15779	2320	82.68	0.52	3.56
Fifth (1974-79)	39426	4865	151.24	0.38	3.11
Annual Plan (1979-80)	12177	1997	-	-	-
Sixth (1980-85)	97500	5695	371.14	0.38	6.52
Seventh (1985-86 to (1989-90)	180000	10525	546.54	0.30	5.19
Annual Plan (1990-92)	123120	7256	292.74	0.24	4.03
Eighth (1992-93 to 1996-97)	434100	22467	1205.39	0.28	5.37
Ninth (1997-2002)	859200	42462	2069.78	0.24	4.87
Tenth (2002-07)	1525639	58933	1946.44	0.13	3.30

Source: GOI (2008). Handbook on Fisheries Statistics. New Delhi: Ministry of Agriculture

From the Table 3.4 it can be noticed that fisheries share in the total plan outlay was hovering from 0.22 per cent in First Five Year plan to 0.52 per cent in IV plan and decreasing thereafter continuously and it received only 0.13 per cent in X plan, in spite of that the sector has been growing at an annual growth rate of 5 per cent in the last two and half decades. Similarly, its share in agricultural outlay has increased from 1.45 per cent in First plan to 6.52 per cent in VI plan and it is slowly declining since then and is about 3.30 per cent in X plan. However, the status of fisheries sub-sector is better, when compared to that of agricultural sector as a whole. Because, the per cent allocation to agricultural sector in the total plan outlay started declining from IV Five year Plan onwards and is continuously decreasing further, which is a great concern for the sector’s growth. Its share in First Fiver Plan was about 15 per cent and it went to 17.16 per cent in IV plan and is now only 3.86 per cent in X plan. Considering the general importance given to agricultural sector, the preference received by the fisheries sub-sector in the plan outlays is still reasonable. This shows greater importance given to fisheries sub-sector within agriculture. Financial allocation/expenditure on the development of fisheries in Karnataka is presented in Table 3.5.

Table 3.5 Financial Allocations for Fisheries Development under Various Plans (Rs. in Crores).

Sl. no.	Plan period	India		Karnataka
		Total plan outlay	Expenditure on fisheries	Total plan expenditure	Expenditure on fisheries
1.	I Plan (1951-56)	2378	2.78 (0.14)	405.3	0.30 (0.08)
2.	II Plan (1956-61)	4500	9.06 (0.19)	1442.7	4.94 (0.35)
3.	III Plan (1961-1966)	8577	23.32 (0.31)	2641.4	23.61 (0.89)
4.	Annual Plans (1996-69)	6625	32.67 (0.49)	1909.6	22.24 (1.16)
5.	IV Plan (1969-74)	15779	54.11 (0.34)	3598.5	28.57 (0.79)
6.	V Plan (1974-79)	39426	115.11 (0.29)	8523.3	32.11 (0.38)
7.	VI Plan (1980-85)	97500	286.95 (0.29)	2710.1	73.20 (0.27)
8.	VII Plan (1985-90)	180000	477.59 (0.26)	35000.0	299.00 (0.85)
9.	VIII Plan (1992-97)	434100	1118.46 (0.25)	N.A	901.06
10.	IX Plan (1997-2002)	859200	1414.41 (0.16)	N.A	1380.46
11.	X Plan (2002-2007)	1525639	1163.25 (up to 2004-05)	51948.04	1692.5 (3.26)

Note: Figures in the parentheses show the percentage to total.
Source: GOI (2008) Handbook on Fisheries Statistics. New Delhi: Ministry of Agriculture.
GOK (1986) Statistical Bulletin of fisheries. Bangalore: Directorate of fisheries.
GOK (1989) Statistical Bulletin of fisheries. Bangalore: Directorate of fisheries.

It is evident from the above table that, there has been a quantum jump in the expenditure for the fishery sector both in the central and state sectors since third plan. This is due to the consideration of the importance of fishery industry as a potential source of employment and income generation. However, the expenditure on fisheries is marginal in the state when compared with the country.