With maximum sustainable yield in capture fisheries achieved, technological innovations to increase yields seem imperative. In a recent breakthrough cages that can withstand turbulent seas have been developed and tested successfully by the NIOT.
The protein requirement of an average individual is estimated as 0.72g/kg/day (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies IMNA, 2005) which works out to 13.14 kg for a 50 kg person/year.
Hence the country’s current protein requirement to feed its 1.27 billion populations is approximately 16.69 mmt.
With one third of the Indian population preferring a vegetarian diet and considering that the protein requirement of 60 per cent of its non-vegetarian population is also met by plant resources, the animal protein requirement of the country is estimated to be 4.45 mmt.
To achieve the world’s average fish protein contribution of 16 per cent (Central Statistical Organization-Manual on Fishery Statistics, Ministry of Statistics and programme implementation CSO-MFS, 2011) in the total animal protein production (4.45 mmt) we need to generate 0.71 mmt of fish protein in our country.
Bearing in mind the average protein content of fish (15 to 30 g /kg), to meet the present protein requirement of the nation we need to produce 31.64 mmt of fish against the current 8.8 mmt production.
The country’s marine capture fishery has attained its maximum sustainable yield of 3.97 mmt out of the estimated revised fishery potential of about 4.5 mmt and there is no further scope to increase its productivity.
It is estimated by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that around 20 per cent of the total fish production of the world comes from capture-based aquaculture and that this practice needs to be encouraged and regulated for sustainable fish production (The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture SOFIA, 2012).
However, fresh and brackish water culture has its own limitations and cannot be expanded beyond a certain level without harming the environment. The only possibility to meet the present demand is by farming in the seas with recent technologies for which India is yet to frame its sea leasing policy.
The production of farmed aquatic organisms in caged enclosures has been a relatively recent aquaculture innovation. The cage aquaculture sector has grown rapidly during the past decades and is presently undergoing changes in response to pressures from globalization and growing demand for aquatic products in both developing and developed countries. The opportunities for cage culture to provide fish for the world’s growing population are enormous, and particularly so in marine waters.
In three decades (1980 -2010), world food fish production by aquaculture has expanded 12 times over, at an average annual rate of 8.8 per cent and Indian aquaculture has demonstrated a six and half fold growth over just two decades, with freshwater aquaculture contributing over 95 percent of the total aquaculture production (SydaRao, 2009 ‘Overview on mariculture and the opportunities and challenges of cage culture in India’, National Fisheries Development Board).
The need to improve fish production capabilities of the country which is bestowed with 7,517 km long coast line, 2.02 million sq. km of exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and 5.3 lakh sq km of continental shelf is very convincing.
Despite the huge potential, the development of large scale mariculture in the country is yet to kick off. The major barriers in offshore farming are—lack of sturdy cages and anchoring protocols to withstand turbulent open seas; commercial production of marine finfish seeds; lack of nursery rearing systems to supply stockable size seeds for open sea cage culture; availability of formulated species specific feeds; and above all legislative support for fish culture in the sea.
The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) under the Ministry of Earth Seances (MoES), with its expertise in marine engineering and aquatic biology decided to address the prime issue of designing a culture system for mariculture operation both at nearshore and offshore areas along with standardisation of mooring configurations. While appreciating the vastness of the Indian seas and its ideal tropical climate for fish farming, the rough sea conditions, high water currents, absence of shore landing facilities are points to ponder when designing sea cages.
Taking into considerations the nuances of sea farming, the Institute has custom designed high-density polyethylene (HDPE) cages (9 m in diameter) and fabricated and deployed them with multipoint grid mooring system in three different environments that represent the country’s prime marine ecosystems.
These cages are presently being tested by growing various marine finfish species obtained from hatcheries as well as from the wild. In order to assess the mariculture potential of the country, a geospatial analysis was carried out for the entire EEZ of the country involving ten vital physical parameters—depth, Sea Surface Current, Wave Height, Total Suspended Matter, and chemical parameters—sea surface temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate and biological chlorophyll-‘a’.
This revealed a huge suitable sea space (3,18,456 km2) available for taking up sea farming in the country. Based on the results of the analysis the 0-100 depth zone across the coastline of the country were classified into three categories as no farming (up to 5 m depth), community farming (5-20 m depth) and industrial farming (20-100 m depth) zones.
Though the cages developed could withstand the sea conditions during the last five years of deployment, accessing these cages in rough weather with no shore landing facility or jetty was difficult. Hence, the need for automated cage with shore control and offshore platform based facilities arose in order to ensure year round culture.
There is no established system for taking care of nursery rearing in a large scale to provide stockable size fish seeds. The infrastructure available for fish seed production are insufficient when compared to the country’s huge requirement and out of the 80+ species of marine finfishes standardised worldwide for aquaculture, research is limited to a single species (Latescalcarifer) with a production capability of mere 5 million fry/year.
As part of the cage development initiatives, the NIOT has designed and developed a sea based nursery cage with a diameter of 2 m for rearing as small as 5 g size marine finfishes and demonstrated the nursery rearing of seabass fingerlings of 5-6 g to 30 g size with 90 per cent survival in 45-50 days both at Kothachathram (Andhra Pradesh) and Olaikuda (Tamil Nadu) in open sea conditions.
These cages will greatly reduce the difficulty in getting the stockable size fish seeds and transporting the bigger fish seeds to the sea cages. Further, the infrastructure requirement for a land based nursery rearing facility for rearing a million fish seed is estimated as 20,000 m3 of constructed area (at a stocking density 50/m3) which can also be avoided. The Institute’s cage culture demonstration empowered the traditional fishermen of North Bay (Andamans), Olaikuda (Tamil Nadu) and Kothachathram (Andhra Pradesh) with hands on training in various aspects of cage farming right from cage fabrication to fish harvesting.
To produce 1 mmt of marine finfish we need to establish industries for the production of 1,00,000 grow out cages with 400 cu.m cultivable area and 3,00,000 units of nursery cages. Hatcheries should be established for the production of 1,500 million seeds of 5 g size with different finfish species suitable for the Indian seas.
Fish feed industries should be created with the capacity of 1.5 mmt including 0.02 mmt of nursery feed production units. We also require allied fishery industries for fish processing and storage apart from scientific and skilled manpower. Above all, it is mandatory to have a sea leasing policy in place to ensure the safety of the cultured products in the sea, which may also motivate private entrepreneurs to venture into sea farming.
The state governments may demarcate certain zones for sea farming activities after conducting a feasibility survey. Considering the above facts a plan for the production of 1 mmt fish through mariculture has been conceived by NIOT and submitted to the MoES for consideration. The Ministry has constituted a Working Group over the proposed plan involving the major stakeholders of the industry for the formulation of an implementable aquaculture strategy for the country.
Cage culture of milkfish with seeds from the vicinity was initiated by MoES on June 25, 2013 at Olaikuda fishing village. The cage culture demonstration empowered the traditional fishermen of Olaikuda and Kothachathram with hands-on training in various aspects of cage farming including fabrication, deployment, net maintenance, seed stocking, feeding, disease control measures, harvesting, etc. This capacity building in cage farming may help generate alternative livelihood strategies.
Out of the more than 200 commercial marine food fishes available in the country, only a few species are being attempted for hatchery production and only Latescalcarifer and Rachycentron canadum are being produced on a commercial scale by the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture, the Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture and the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.
To initiate large scale fish production a country-wide survey needs to be initiated to know the seasonal wild seed availability of potential species. The NIOT conducted a local survey around Rameswaram to take stock of the milkfish seed availability and found that along with mullets it was abundant around the Gulf of Mannar region between March and August. The region is also bestowed with rabbit and parrot fish seeds; rearing them in sea cages yielded encouraging results.
Despite the lack of reliable statistical information of cage aquaculture globally, a growing trend is evident in the segment. Brackishwater and marine cage farming is relatively new in Asia, having developed first in Japan for the Japanese amperjack (Seriolaquinqueradiata). Over the last two decades, marine finfish aquaculture, predominantly cage farming, has spread throughout Asia with China and Vietnam mostly relying on wild collection for fish seed and feed (S S De Silva, et.al. 2007 ‘A review of cage aquaculture: Asia excluding China’, Cage aquaculture-Regional reviews and Global overview, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper).
Considering the advancements that cage culture has made in countries such as Norway and Chile in terms of reduced antibiotics usage and prevention of feed loss, with improved feeds and feeding techniques, there is a possibility that this sector will contribute significantly to the protein needs of the world’s growing population. Developing sea farming or cage culture is thus an achievable and potential strategy to India.
Recent Posts
The United Nations has shaped so much of global co-operation and regulation that we wouldn’t recognise our world today without the UN’s pervasive role in it. So many small details of our lives – such as postage and copyright laws – are subject to international co-operation nurtured by the UN.
In its 75th year, however, the UN is in a difficult moment as the world faces climate crisis, a global pandemic, great power competition, trade wars, economic depression and a wider breakdown in international co-operation.
Still, the UN has faced tough times before – over many decades during the Cold War, the Security Council was crippled by deep tensions between the US and the Soviet Union. The UN is not as sidelined or divided today as it was then. However, as the relationship between China and the US sours, the achievements of global co-operation are being eroded.
The way in which people speak about the UN often implies a level of coherence and bureaucratic independence that the UN rarely possesses. A failure of the UN is normally better understood as a failure of international co-operation.
We see this recently in the UN’s inability to deal with crises from the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, to civil conflict in Syria, and the failure of the Security Council to adopt a COVID-19 resolution calling for ceasefires in conflict zones and a co-operative international response to the pandemic.
The UN administration is not primarily to blame for these failures; rather, the problem is the great powers – in the case of COVID-19, China and the US – refusing to co-operate.
Where states fail to agree, the UN is powerless to act.
Marking the 75th anniversary of the official formation of the UN, when 50 founding nations signed the UN Charter on June 26, 1945, we look at some of its key triumphs and resounding failures.
Five successes
1. Peacekeeping
The United Nations was created with the goal of being a collective security organisation. The UN Charter establishes that the use of force is only lawful either in self-defence or if authorised by the UN Security Council. The Security Council’s five permanent members, being China, US, UK, Russia and France, can veto any such resolution.
The UN’s consistent role in seeking to manage conflict is one of its greatest successes.
A key component of this role is peacekeeping. The UN under its second secretary-general, the Swedish statesman Dag Hammarskjöld – who was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace prize after he died in a suspicious plane crash – created the concept of peacekeeping. Hammarskjöld was responding to the 1956 Suez Crisis, in which the US opposed the invasion of Egypt by its allies Israel, France and the UK.
UN peacekeeping missions involve the use of impartial and armed UN forces, drawn from member states, to stabilise fragile situations. “The essence of peacekeeping is the use of soldiers as a catalyst for peace rather than as the instruments of war,” said then UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, when the forces won the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize following missions in conflict zones in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Central America and Europe.
However, peacekeeping also counts among the UN’s major failures.
2. Law of the Sea
Negotiated between 1973 and 1982, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) set up the current international law of the seas. It defines states’ rights and creates concepts such as exclusive economic zones, as well as procedures for the settling of disputes, new arrangements for governing deep sea bed mining, and importantly, new provisions for the protection of marine resources and ocean conservation.
Mostly, countries have abided by the convention. There are various disputes that China has over the East and South China Seas which present a conflict between power and law, in that although UNCLOS creates mechanisms for resolving disputes, a powerful state isn’t necessarily going to submit to those mechanisms.
Secondly, on the conservation front, although UNCLOS is a huge step forward, it has failed to adequately protect oceans that are outside any state’s control. Ocean ecosystems have been dramatically transformed through overfishing. This is an ecological catastrophe that UNCLOS has slowed, but failed to address comprehensively.
3. Decolonisation
The idea of racial equality and of a people’s right to self-determination was discussed in the wake of World War I and rejected. After World War II, however, those principles were endorsed within the UN system, and the Trusteeship Council, which monitored the process of decolonisation, was one of the initial bodies of the UN.
Although many national independence movements only won liberation through bloody conflicts, the UN has overseen a process of decolonisation that has transformed international politics. In 1945, around one third of the world’s population lived under colonial rule. Today, there are less than 2 million people living in colonies.
When it comes to the world’s First Nations, however, the UN generally has done little to address their concerns, aside from the non-binding UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of 2007.
4. Human rights
The Human Rights Declaration of 1948 for the first time set out fundamental human rights to be universally protected, recognising that the “inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”.
Since 1948, 10 human rights treaties have been adopted – including conventions on the rights of children and migrant workers, and against torture and discrimination based on gender and race – each monitored by its own committee of independent experts.
The language of human rights has created a new framework for thinking about the relationship between the individual, the state and the international system. Although some people would prefer that political movements focus on ‘liberation’ rather than ‘rights’, the idea of human rights has made the individual person a focus of national and international attention.
5. Free trade
Depending on your politics, you might view the World Trade Organisation as a huge success, or a huge failure.
The WTO creates a near-binding system of international trade law with a clear and efficient dispute resolution process.
The majority Australian consensus is that the WTO is a success because it has been good for Australian famers especially, through its winding back of subsidies and tariffs.
However, the WTO enabled an era of globalisation which is now politically controversial.
Recently, the US has sought to disrupt the system. In addition to the trade war with China, the Trump Administration has also refused to appoint tribunal members to the WTO’s Appellate Body, so it has crippled the dispute resolution process. Of course, the Trump Administration is not the first to take issue with China’s trade strategies, which include subsidises for ‘State Owned Enterprises’ and demands that foreign firms transfer intellectual property in exchange for market access.
The existence of the UN has created a forum where nations can discuss new problems, and climate change is one of them. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up in 1988 to assess climate science and provide policymakers with assessments and options. In 1992, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change created a permanent forum for negotiations.
However, despite an international scientific body in the IPCC, and 165 signatory nations to the climate treaty, global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase.
Under the Paris Agreement, even if every country meets its greenhouse gas emission targets we are still on track for ‘dangerous warming’. Yet, no major country is even on track to meet its targets; while emissions will probably decline this year as a result of COVID-19, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will still increase.
This illustrates a core conundrum of the UN in that it opens the possibility of global cooperation, but is unable to constrain states from pursuing their narrowly conceived self-interests. Deep co-operation remains challenging.
Five failures of the UN
1. Peacekeeping
During the Bosnian War, Dutch peacekeeping forces stationed in the town of Srebrenica, declared a ‘safe area’ by the UN in 1993, failed in 1995 to stop the massacre of more than 8000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces. This is one of the most widely discussed examples of the failures of international peacekeeping operations.
On the massacre’s 10th anniversary, then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote that the UN had “made serious errors of judgement, rooted in a philosophy of impartiality”, contributing to a mass murder that would “haunt our history forever”.
If you look at some of the other infamous failures of peacekeeping missions – in places such as Rwanda, Somalia and Angola – it is the limited powers given to peacekeeping operations that have resulted in those failures.
2. The invasion of Iraq
The invasion of Iraq by the US in 2003, which was unlawful and without Security Council authorisation, reflects the fact that the UN is has very limited capacity to constrain the actions of great powers.
The Security Council designers created the veto power so that any of the five permanent members could reject a Council resolution, so in that way it is programmed to fail when a great power really wants to do something that the international community generally condemns.
In the case of the Iraq invasion, the US didn’t veto a resolution, but rather sought authorisation that it did not get. The UN, if you go by the idea of collective security, should have responded by defending Iraq against this unlawful use of force.
The invasion proved a humanitarian disaster with the loss of more than 400,000 lives, and many believe that it led to the emergence of the terrorist Islamic State.
3. Refugee crises
The UN brokered the 1951 Refugee Convention to address the plight of people displaced in Europe due to World War II; years later, the 1967 Protocol removed time and geographical restrictions so that the Convention can now apply universally (although many countries in Asia have refused to sign it, owing in part to its Eurocentric origins).
Despite these treaties, and the work of the UN High Commission for Refugees, there is somewhere between 30 and 40 million refugees, many of them, such as many Palestinians, living for decades outside their homelands. This is in addition to more than 40 million people displaced within their own countries.
While for a long time refugee numbers were reducing, in recent years, particularly driven by the Syrian conflict, there have been increases in the number of people being displaced.
During the COVID-19 crisis, boatloads of Rohingya refugees were turned away by port after port. This tragedy has echoes of pre-World War II when ships of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany were refused entry by multiple countries.
And as a catastrophe of a different kind looms, there is no international framework in place for responding to people who will be displaced by rising seas and other effects of climate change.
4. Conflicts without end
Across the world, there is a shopping list of unresolved civil conflicts and disputed territories.
Palestine and Kashmir are two of the longest-running failures of the UN to resolve disputed lands. More recent, ongoing conflicts include the civil wars in Syria and Yemen.
The common denominator of unresolved conflicts is either division among the great powers, or a lack of international interest due to the geopolitical stakes not being sufficiently high. For instance, the inaction during the Rwandan civil war in the 1990s was not due to a division among great powers, but rather a lack of political will to engage.
In Syria, by contrast, Russia and the US have opposing interests and back opposing sides: Russia backs the government of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, whereas the US does not.
5. Acting like it’s 1945
The UN is increasingly out of step with the reality of geopolitics today.
The permanent members of the Security Council reflect the division of power internationally at the end of World War II. The continuing exclusion of Germany, Japan, and rising powers such as India and Indonesia, reflects the failure to reflect the changing balance of power.
Also, bodies such as the IMF and the World Bank, which are part of the UN system, continue to be dominated by the West. In response, China has created potential rival institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Western domination of UN institutions undermines their credibility. However, a more fundamental problem is that institutions designed in 1945 are a poor fit with the systemic global challenges – of which climate change is foremost – that we face today.