NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, AUG 11
The shrimp hatch industry has welcomed on Thursday the passage of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which aims to decriminalise the offences committed in carrying out coastal aquaculture activities and ensure ease of doing business.
- 6 lakh people will be employed in Shrimp Hatchery Industry in next 4 years, will boost productivity multiple times from current levels: Calraj President, AISHA, TN
- The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill also seeks to expand the scope, remove regulatory gaps and reduce the compliance burden without diluting environmental protection rules in the coastal areas.
- To decriminalise the offences, the bill seeks to remove the jail term of up to three years and impose only a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh.
The bill was cleared by the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote on Wednesday. It was passed in the Lok Sabha on August 7.
Presenting The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Rajyasabha. https://t.co/Wz3T5OyFx2
— Parshottam Rupala (मोदी का परिवार) (@PRupala) August 9, 2023
Replying to a debate on the bill in Rajya Sabha, Parshottam Rupala, Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said that India has benefitted from green revolution and white revolution.
“Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India will have blue revolution which will take the fisherman community ahead,” Rupala said.
The recent passing of the amendment has brought in huge relief to the investors, farmers and the public who have come forward to support the Aquaculture industry.
The government’s goal is to confirm that coastal aquaculture and its related activities are allowed within the CRZ defined by CRZ notifications.
Good news for coastal communities!
The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill 2023 aims to boost livelihoods and empower local fish farmers with its decreminalization provisions. 🌊🐡 #CoastalLivelihoods #Aquaculture pic.twitter.com/Y4F5tF57gz
— Parshottam Rupala (मोदी का परिवार) (@PRupala) August 9, 2023
“The Association of Indian Shrimp Hatcheries would like to thank the Hon’ble Union Minister of Fisheries Shri. Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala, Hon’ble Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri. L. Murugan, Hon’ble Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan and Shri Masthan Rao Beeda, Member of Rajya Sabha for taking efforts to get the amendment passed in Parliament. We also thank officials in the Ministry of Fisheries, Coastal Aquaculture Authority, State Fisheries Departments, and everyone else who put in their contribution to get this amendment done,” said G Calraj, President, All India Shrimp Hatcheries Association (AISHA), Tamil Nadu Region.
“With green signal to Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023, we are expecting a huge productivity increase from the current 8.75 lakh tonne to nearly 20 lakh tonnes in the coming 4 to 5 years. Furthermore, we expect the direct and indirect employment to increase from the current 2 lakhs to 6 lakhs. In Tamil Nadu alone, 85 hatcheries employ close to 1 lakh people spread across 25,000 hectares producing nearly 35,000 tonnes of produce. Unfortunately, only 7,000 hectares are being utilized producing 35,000 tonnes of shrimps for domestic and international exports. We now expect this to increase to 1 lakh tonnes in the coming years upon full utilisation of land. Even our contribution to the Forex will jump from the current Rs. 40,000 crore to Rs. 1 lakh crore,” Mr Calraj pointed out.
“Though CAA has come up with support for the licensed hatcheries by giving a review petition in NGT, the court did not rule in favour of this mass employment contributing industry. So, it became crucial that the matter be resolved permanently. It was understood unless the CAA act is amended in the Parliament to differentiate shrimp hatchery activity from the farming activity there will not be any relief for us. Even the Union Government stands to gain now as they have been planning to double fisheries production in India through the PMMSY scheme,” he added.
Also present at the event was Dr. PE Cheran, Secretary, AISHA Tamil Nadu, Yellanki Ravi, President, AISHA All India, Muthukaruppan V P, AISHA All India, Dr. Joshy K Sankar, General Secretary, AISHA All India and K. Madusudhan Reddy, President, Society of Aquaculture Professionals (SAP).
A brief history of the Act and the multiple issues faced by the Industry
Since September 2022, the industry has been in jeopardy after a NGT order was issued asking the licensing authority, Coastal Aquaculture Authority to take action against hatcheries located on the shore, though in fact CRZ Notifications 2005, 2011 and 2019 have listed hatchery as a permitted activity in CRZ within 200 metres from HTL. Shrimp Hatchery being a very sensitive activity in Coastal Aquaculture which requires oceanic quality water, makes it an invariably beach front activity. The CAA Act 2005, however, had not demarcated hatchery as a beach front activity and clubbed with the farm activity that can very well be done beyond coastal regulation zone of 500 metres.
The Act notified both the activities as coastal aquaculture and the benefit of permit specified for hatcheries within 200 metres in CRZ notification had not been mentioned. Some unscrupulous elements in the society interpreted this point in the CAA act in their favour and started threatening the hatcheries to extort money, though the hatcheries are licensed and monitored by the Coastal Aquaculture Authority.
When the hatcheries declined to divulge on such demands, some of the so-called NGOs had filed a petition in the National Green Tribunal, Chennai demanding demolition of hatcheries functioning along the east coast of Tamil Nadu for the past three decades and got an order from NGT purely based on misinterpretation of the Act. Coastal Aquaculture in India provides livelihood to several lakhs of people particularly marginal farmers and landless labourers since its popularisation in the 1990s and has helped India earn more than Rs 40,000 crores in foreign exchange.
Benefits of Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill
- The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill also seeks to expand the scope, remove regulatory gaps and reduce the compliance burden without diluting environmental protection rules in the coastal areas.
- To decriminalise the offences, the bill seeks to remove the jail term of up to three years and impose only a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh.
- It also seeks to fine-tune the operational procedures of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority to make it more responsive to the needs of the stakeholders, promote newer forms of environment-friendly coastal aquaculture like cage culture and seaweed culture, and usher in global best practices in this sector, including mapping and zonation of aquaculture areas, quality assurance and safe aquaculture products.
- The bill also seeks to encourage the establishment of facilities in areas having direct access to seawater to produce genetically improved and disease-free broodstocks and seed for use in coastal aquaculture besides preventing the use of antibiotics and pharmacologically active substances, which are harmful to human health in coastal aquaculture.
