Article
Sustainability in Indian Aquaculture: Current Practices, Emerging Technologies, and the Road Ahead
Aquaculture has ascended to worldwide prominence, evolving into one of the leading industries on Earth today, and India has firmly established itself as a global leader in the aquaculture industry. India ranked as the world's second-largest aquaculture producer with a total output of 17.55 million metric tons recorded in 2022–23 (Giri, 2024). Unfortunately, the speed and scale of this expansion have come with a heavy environmental price through mangrove habitats degradation, deterioration and depletion of groundwater resources, suffocation of coastal ecosystems with high levels of nutrients, and an increased and indiscriminate use of antibiotics on farm (Jayasankar, 2003; Khanjani et al., 2022). This article presents a closer view of the present situation of Indian aquaculture which is leaning towards sustainable practices by examining the various practices being deployed across freshwater aquaculture, brackish-water shrimp culture, and the fast-growing mariculture frontier. By applying latest technologies like Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA), Biofloc Technology (BFT), Re-circulating Aquaculture Systems (RAS), many of these problems can be solved. The article also studies some of the important programs initiated by government such as the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) that are helping to reshape the aquaculture practices towards sustainability. This paper also highlights the various issues in antibiotic governance, certification aspects, and climate preparedness towards sustainability. Through this study, directions toward ecologically responsible , economically resilient, and genuinely inclusive aquaculture practices are identified.