India’s first open-sea marine fish growing operation was started from the Andaman Sea by Union Minister of State for Earth Sciences Dr. Jitendra Singh. The effort, according to the minister, is one of the first significant steps towards achieving the Blue Economy through India’s abundant ocean resources, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often underlined. During the minister’s field trip to the Andaman Sea’s open seas, the project was initiated on-site in North Bay, Sri Vijaya Puram. The Government of India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences, its technical branch, the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), and the UT Administration of Andaman and Nicobar Islands are working together to carry out the project.
The pilot project integrates scientific innovation with the creation of livelihoods by focusing on the open-sea cultivation of marine finfish and seaweed under natural ocean conditions. Dr. Singh stated that this project is one of the first and most important actions done to unlock the economic potential of India’s oceans in his speech on the occasion. He pointed out that India’s waters have enormous and varied economic potential that had gone unnoticed for decades, much like its Himalayan and continental resources. Two significant livelihood-oriented actions were started during the field visit. In order to encourage deep-water seaweed growing in the open sea, the minister gave seaweed seeds to nearby fishing villages under the marine flora component.
Finfish seeds were supplied for cage-based cultivation using NIOT-developed open-sea cages. Dr Singh said the projects could later be scaled up through public–private partnerships to boost livelihoods and strengthen India’s Blue Economy. He noted a renewed focus since 2014 on harnessing India’s vast and diverse ocean resources and also visited the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park in the Andamans.
