Fishing in India is a major industry in its coastal states, employing over 14 million people. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, fish production has increased more than tenfold since 1947 and doubled between 1990 and 2010.
According to Indian constitution, the power of enacting laws is split between India’s central government and the Indian states. The state legislatures of India have the power to make laws and regulations with respect to a number of subject-matters, including water (i.e., water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power), land (i.e., rights in or over land, land tenure, transfer, and alienation of agricultural land), fisheries, as well as the preservation, protection and improvement of stock and the prevention of animal disease.
Fishing in India; Life of our Fishermen in Sea : VIDEO
National laws include the British-era [Indian Fisheries Act, 1897, which penalizes the killing of fish by poisoning water and by using explosives; the Environment Protection Act, 1986, being an umbrella act containing provisions for all environment related issues affecting fisheries and aquaculture industry in India, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
The banning of trawling by chartered foreign vessels and the speedy motorization of traditional fishing craft in the 1980s led to a quantum jump in marine fish production in the late 1980s. The export of marine products rose from 97,179 tons (Rs531 billion) in FY 1987 to 210,800 tons (Rs17.4 trillion) in FY 1992.
There are five main fishing harbors at Mangalore (Karnataka), Kochi (Kerala), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Raichak in Kolkata (West Bengal). 23 minor fishing harbours and 95 fish-landing centres are designated to provide landing and berthing facilities to fishing craft.
