Bhubaneswar: Fish production from all the available sources in the state has shown a robust growth in the last five years, figures furnished by the state Fisheries and Animal Resources Development department revealed.
The data relating to the quantum of fish produced in the state in the last five years was recently furnished by the state Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Minister Arun Sahoo before the Assembly. The minister in his written reply claimed that in the year 2018-19 the total fish production saw an increase of 11 per cent.
The data suggests that fish production is rising every year. In 2014-15, total fish production in the state stood at 4,69,548 metric tonne which increased to 7,58,962 metric tonne in 2018-19 – a growth of 62 per cent. The House was informed that this included production of fish from marine, brackish water and also freshwater. The legislators were also told that every year the state has been witnessing growth in fish production with more than 11 per cent.
An analysis of the data as furnished by Sahoo hinted that more growth has been registered in the last five years in the production of freshwater fish which saw a tremendous rise of 5,06,608 metric tonne in 2018-19 as compared to its corresponding figure of 3,00,964 metric tonne in 2014-15, registering a growth of 68 per cent.
On the other hand, marine and brackish water fish production has also increased by 50 per cent since 2014-15. In 2014-15, the total production of marine fish stood at 1,68,584 metric tonnes which increased to 2,52,354, registering a rise of 50 per cent in five years.