Call to enhance blue finance for innovations in aquaculture
AHMEDABAD, 25 November 2023: In view of a range of critical threats posed by climate change and increasing demand for food and nutritional security, Simon Feunge-Smith, Senior Fishery Officer of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) has called for enhancing blue finance for innovations and developments in the aquaculture sector.
He was speaking at a technical session on ‘Emerging Challenges and Opportunities in Inland Aquaculture’ at the Global Fisheries Conference India 2023.
According to him, global aquaculture will provide 59% of fish for human consumption by 2030. He emphasised the need to prioritise low carbon footprint aquaculture systems with high value nutrition, saying that technological advancements and investments are required for a sustainable growth of the sector.
Global blue sector has changed over the past 25 years, with 37% higher per capita fish consumption and 250% higher aquaculture production, the FAO expert said.
“Asia provides 89 % of global aquaculture production with 82 million tonnes. The sector creates jobs for 20.5 million people in the primary sector”, Simon Feunge-Smith added.
Referring to the promotion of sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, he suggested supporting sustainable practices by small-scale fisheries and aqua-farmers.
The session provided a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities in inland aquaculture, emphasising the need for fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange among experts and stakeholders.
Dr. Amorn Luengnaruemitchai, Managing Director, Manit Genetics, Thailand flagged the impact of unpresidential rainfall leading to flooding of culture ponds, droughts, increased diseases etc.
Guerin Martin, Regional Technical, Manager Aquaculture, ADISSEO Asia Pacific Pvt Ltd, Dr. Md. Gulam Hussain, Asian Regional Coordinator, Mississippi State University, USA, and Dr. Rex A. Dunham, Professor, Auburn University, USA also presented papers at the session.
A panel discussion, held on this theme, enriched the discourse with varied perspectives, offering a holistic view of the intricate challenges faced by the industry. Dr. B.K. Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI, Kolkata, Dr. Vindhya Mohindra, Principal Scientist & Head, ICAR-NBFGR, Lucknow, Dr. P.K. Pandey, Director, ICAR-DCFR, Bhimtal, Dr. Saroj Swain, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneswar, and Dr. P.C. Das, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneswar were the panellists.
The session was chaired by Dr. J.K. Jena, Deputy Director General (Fisheries) of ICAR. Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Secretary of DoF, GoI, Ms. Neetu Kumari Prasad, Joint Secretary of DoF, GoI, and Dr. Sanjay Pandey, Deputy Commissioner, Fisheries, DoF, GoI spoke at the session.
By Jagdish Kumar
