Fisheries Administration and Lagislation

Unit 7 - Laws relating inland fisheries

7.5. Aquaculture

Fish Seed Certification and Inter-State Movement
The State shall ensure supply of quality and disease free fish seed for aquaculture activities, and accordingly insists on certification of fish seeds by competent authority.[Competent authority: State Department of Fisheries, National Laboratories/Institutes or any other agency authorized/recognized by the State Govt. or Union of India]

Inter-state Movement
Each consignment of fish seed transported from one place to another or from one State to another must bear a label indicating ‘source of seed i.e. name of the hatchery’, ‘type of seed’, ‘size of seed’, ‘supplied by’ and ‘supplied to’.
The State shall have the right/power to check/confiscate/ destroy any consignment which lacks such details.

Feed Quality Control & Certification
In order to curb the sale of inferior quality of feeds without any certification, it shall be mandatory on the part of the feed manufacturers/suppliers to get their products duly certified from a competent authority, such as a Central Agency, before releasing them in the market.

Use of chemicals, antibiotics etc.

• No chemicals or antibiotics or probiotics shall be allowed to be used in aquaculture, which have the potential to affect the environment, unless otherwise essential and have been ascertained as eco-friendly or harmless by the designated national laboratory/Institute.
• The State shall develop the mechanism for periodic monitoring protocol in this regard and act as the situations demand.

Exclusivity of Areas for Aquaculture

• Irrational conversion of agricultural lands, paddy fields in particular, for aquaculture
• Waters under the control of religious organization/bodies
• Ecologically fragile and sensitive areas, declared by the State or Union Governments.

Integration of aquaculture with other farming systems
This needs to be popularized in order to gain maximum biomass per unit area besides gainful utilization of waste from one source to another.
The State shall develop suitable protocol for the expansion/execution of integrated farming systems.

Health Monitoring and Disease Reporting/control

• Network of disease diagnostic and reporting laboratories must be established in all the States under the Ministry of Agriculture, Govt of India.
• There should be a strict enforcement of a quarantine regime in the country to stop spread of disease from one region to another or one state to another.

Setting up of hatcheries, brood bank, distribution etc.

• Setting up of hatcheries should pass through the registration and certification regime of a Fish Seed committee established in each State.
• The Seed committee shall have the right/power to enter any hatchery for ensuring the quality of fish seed produced and to examine the condition of the available brood stock
• Exchange of brooders among hatcheries or at least 20% replacement of brooders per year with natural stock should be made mandatory to avoid inbreeding and genetic erosion.
• Setting of hatcheries for banned fish species, especially species of exotic origin and which have entered the aquaculture system in a unauthorized manner, should be treated as a cognizable offence.

Introduction of Genetically modified species
No genetically modified fish species be allowed unless and until foolproof scientific backup is available, and has been duly permitted by the competent authority.

Environmental issues
EIA: Systematic impact assessments should be made mandatory for all projects including anticipated or proposed land use patterns, deforestation or any other such development, which have the potential to affect the aquatic regimes including the fisheries adversely.
Responsible Fisheries: The code of conduct for responsible fisheries formulated by FAO may be accepted either in its totality or with location or resource specific modifications. Effective implementation is inevitable in view of existing as well as emerging threat perceptions.
Impact of aquaculture on environment: Detailed EIA should be undertaken before the effluents of aquaculture are released outside the system in any form.
Destructive fishing Practices like poisoning, dynamiting, etc. Heavy penalty or imprisonment or both may be awarded to person or persons resorting to such practices.