Sagar Parikrama | 04 Mar 2022

For Prelims: Sagar Parikrama, Fisheries Sector, Initiatives related to Fisheries.

For Mains: Government Policies & Interventions, Economics of Animal-Rearing, Significance of Sagar parikrama.

The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying will inaugurate the ‘Sagar Parikrama’ to know the problems of Coastal Fisher folk.

It is a navigation journey to be conducted in all coastal states/UTs through a pre-decided sea route to demonstrate solidarity with all fisherfolk, fish farmers and concerned stakeholders.
It is envisioned as a part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava’ saluting our great freedom fighters, sailors and fishers.
The Parikrama will start from Mandvi, Gujarat in Ist phase and will be organised in other districts of Gujarat and other State/UTs in subsequent phases.
- The first leg of ‘Sagar Parikrama’ shall start on 5th March 2022 from Mandvi and end at Porbandar on 6^th March 2022.
- The entire distance will be covered from the coastline of Mandvi on the coast of the Arabian Sea in the Kutch district of Gujarat, situated at the estuary where the river Rukmavati meets the Gulf of Kutch.
- The Rukmavati River is a south flowing river originating in the central Kutch District and empties into the Arabian Sea
It will also conduct interaction programmes with fishermen, fisher communities and stakeholders in these locations and districts in order to know the problems of Coastal Fisher folk.
It is envisaged in the sea across the coastal belt demonstrating solidarity with all fisher folk, fish farmers and concerned stakeholders as a spirit of Atma Nirbhar Bharat.

It will focus on sustainable balance between the utilisation of marine fisheries resources for food security of the nation and livelihoods of coastal fisher communities and protection of marine ecosystems.
Oceans are vital to the economies, security and livelihoods of Indian coastal states.
- The Country has a coastline of 8118km, covering 9 maritime States/4UTs and providing livelihood support to millions of coastal fisher folk.

India is the second major producer of fish through aquaculture in the world.
India is the 4^th largest exporter of fish in the world as it contributes 7.7% to the global fish production.
Currently, this sector provides livelihood to more than 2.8 crore people within the country. Nevertheless, this is a sector with untapped potential.
The fisheries sector has demonstrated double-digit average annual growth of 10.87 % since 2014-15 with record fish production of 145 lakh tons during 2020-21 as per the Economic Survey for 2021-22
Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture sector registering an average annual growth of 7.53% during the last 5 years. The country exported 12.89 lakh metric tons of fisheries products valued at Rs 46,662 crore (USD 6.68 billion) during 2019-20.
Despite challenges pertaining to infrastructure, the measures by the Central government in the past recent years ensured that the fisheries sector continued to register an annual growth rate of more than 10%.