This paper is the first among the series of analytical write-ups that we plan to bring out as part of the Gujarat regional component of the Dried Fish Matters research project. In this paper we review some of the major policies and institutional arrangements that are critical for understanding the social economy of fisheries, especially marine fisheries, in the state. The paper is divided into two sections. In section one, we present a brief overview of the trajectory of the evolution of fisheries sector policies at the national level since they broadly define the context of our discussion. In section two, we will elaborate on the Gujarat case. Our focus here will be to interrogate the broader philosophy that guides Gujarat’s approach to fisheries development in recent years.
Gujarat is a major maritime state in India with a long and rich history of trans-oceanic trade relationships. The state has also been a major marine fish producer in India ever since it was reorganized as a separate linguistic state in 1960. It is one of the last maritime states to have enacted the marine fishery regulation focused on the development of the sector. The Gujarat Fisheries Act 2003 provides for the protection, conservation, and development of fisheries as well as regulation of fishing in the inland and territorial waters along the coastline of the state.
The Office of the Commissioner of Fisheries, located within the Department of Agriculture, Farmers’ Welfare, and Cooperation of the government of Gujarat, is the nodal department for the regulation and development of fishing activities in the state. The Department regulates the registration of fishing boats (as per Merchant Shipping Act, 1958) and granting of fishing licenses (as per Gujarat Fisheries Act, 2003).
The Gujarat Fisheries Central Co-operative Association Limited (GFCCA), the apex body of the fishermen cooperatives in the state, is the main agency that implements the fishery development projects in the state and the chief conduit for the flow of governmental and institutional assistance to the fisherfolk.
An important policy initiative taken by the state government that can positively impact Gujarat’s fisheries industry is the framing of a policy for agro-business development (the Comprehensive Agro-Business (AB) Policy – 2016-21) and the Chief Minister’s Mission on Food Processing. The CMFP mission underscores the importance of food and nutritional security and food safety and promises to add capacities to the system through capital infusion, technology transfer, skill upgradation as also enhance employment opportunities on a wider scale. This is an opportune moment to get some of the long-neglected concerns of small-scale producers engaged in low-end processing of fish, including curing/drying included in the state’s agenda.
You can find a list of all reports published by Dried Fish Matters on our “Working Papers” page: https://driedfishmatters.org/pub/dfm-working-papers.html.