Alternative marine finfish species for Coastal and Open sea aquaculture in India-Current status and challenges

Aquaculture is one of the most rapidly growing food producing sectors in the world with a potential to meet the ever-growing demand for food and nutrition. Aquaculture production had reached 66.6 million tonnes in 2012 (FAO, 2014) and continues to grow every year. The world food fish aquaculture production has expanded at an average annual rate of 6.2% during 2000 - 2012. The Indian aquaculture scenario too mirrors the global picture, with an annual growth rate of 6-7% in the last two decades. This has made lndia the second largest producer of farmed fish in the world after China. lndia has transformed an extensive system of aquaculture into an intensive and commercial enterprise in the last three decades. Currently, both freshwater and coastal areas are utilised for aquaculture purposes, with freshwater aquaculture contributing a major portion in the total production in lndia (FAO, 2014).