The Rise of Aquaculture in India: Opportunities, Challenges, and Innovations

India is one of the world’s most water-rich nations – its rivers, reservoirs, ponds, backwaters, and coastal estuaries cover millions of hectares. Over the past three decades, the country has turned this natural endowment into an engine of food production through aquaculture: the controlled farming of fish, shrimp, crustaceans, and aquatic plants. India is now the second-largest producer of farmed fish globally, trailing only China, and the sector supports the livelihoods of over 28 million people. Yet behind the impressive numbers lies a story of rapid growth, technological innovation, and mounting sustainability questions that the industry must address head-on.

Growth of freshwater aquaculture
Advances in brackish water aquaculture
The rise of shrimp farming
Technology driving productivity
Sustainability and environmental concerns
Mangrove destruction and coastal degradation
Disease, water quality, and chemical use
Species diversification: an unmet opportunity

Growth of freshwater aquaculture

Freshwater aquaculture is the backbone of India’s fish production system. Inland waters contribute around 70% of India’s total fish production, with roughly 65% of that share coming from aquaculture alone. The landscape is dominated by carp species – catla, rohu, mrigal, and common carp – collectively known as Indian Major Carps (IMCs). These are cultured in ponds, tanks, and reservoirs across states like Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar through a method called composite fish culture, where multiple compatible species are farmed together to maximize use of the water column and available nutrients.

Freshwater prawn farming has also expanded significantly. Since 2000, freshwater prawn farming has grown rapidly, with Andhra Pradesh and Kerala accounting for roughly 60% of the total water area dedicated to this activity, followed by West Bengal. The relatively low investment required for freshwater systems compared to brackish or marine setups has made this segment highly accessible to small and medium-scale farmers, driving participation across rural communities.

Government policy has been a major accelerant. The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), launched in September 2020 with a budget of ₹20,050 crore, set an ambitious national target of raising fish production from 13.75 million metric tonnes to 22 million metric tonnes. The results have been substantial – total fish production rose from approximately 141.6 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 to an estimated 197.75 lakh tonnes in 2024-25, marking a 38% increase. Average aquaculture productivity improved from 3 tonnes per hectare before the scheme to 4.77 tonnes per hectare by 2025.

Among the technologies being adopted in freshwater systems, Biofloc Technology (BFT) and Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) stand out. BFT uses beneficial bacteria to clean tank water by converting ammonia into microbial biomass, while RAS offers a fully controlled environment for temperature, oxygen, and water quality, allowing fish farming in areas with no natural water access. Both systems also recycle water, contributing to freshwater conservation. Research institutions like ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (CIFA) are actively deploying these technologies with farmers on the ground, though the high initial cost of BFT – up to ₹4-5 lakh per unit – remains a barrier for many small farmers.

Advances in brackish water aquaculture

India’s 8,100-kilometre coastline and 1.2 million hectares of brackish water resources have made it a global force in coastal aquaculture. Brackish water systems – covering estuaries, backwaters, tidal creeks, and coastal lagoons – are primarily used for farming shrimp, mud crabs, grey mullet, and sea bass. Among these, shrimp is by far the dominant product, and its story encapsulates both the ambition and the complexity of India’s aquaculture sector.

The rise of shrimp farming

India is now one of the world’s top shrimp producers and exporters. In fiscal year 2022-23, India exported over 1.73 million metric tonnes of seafood worth ₹63,969 crore (approximately US$ 8.09 billion), with frozen shrimp making up 67.72% of total seafood export value. Andhra Pradesh is the leading shrimp-producing state, followed by West Bengal, with these two states accounting for around 80% of national shrimp output.

The species that transformed Indian shrimp farming is Penaeus vannamei, the Pacific white-leg shrimp. Introduced relatively recently, it quickly overtook the native giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) due to its faster growth rate, better feed conversion, shorter culture period, and greater disease resistance. Pacific white shrimp currently constitutes around 80% of global shrimp production, and India’s industry has followed this trend closely.

Selective breeding programs have delivered measurable gains in productivity. Programs focused on species like rohu have achieved an average genetic gain of 18% per generation, a model now being applied to brackish water species as well. The introduction of Specific Pathogen-Free (SPF) broodstock has also been a key innovation, reducing disease risk in hatcheries and improving the quality of seed supplied to farms.

Technology driving productivity

Beyond breeding, the adoption of RAS and BFT in brackish water settings is improving yields and reducing environmental footprint. RAS can be set up indoors or in areas without natural water sources, enabling fish and shrimp to be raised closer to consumption centers where demand is highest. Under PMMSY, the government has approved over 22,000 RAS and Biofloc units, demonstrating the scale of the push toward technology-intensive farming.

An innovative conservation-aligned model called Sustainable Aquaculture in Mangrove Ecosystems (SAIME) is being piloted in India’s Sundarbans. SAIME integrates shrimp farming with mangrove restoration, using climate-resilient farm designs including strong embankments, inner-pond islands, and carefully calibrated pond depths – demonstrating that productivity and ecological restoration need not be mutually exclusive goals.

Sustainability and environmental concerns

India’s aquaculture boom has not come without cost. The environmental record of the sector – particularly brackish water shrimp farming – has been contentious, and addressing these concerns is central to the industry’s long-term viability.

Mangrove destruction and coastal degradation

The rapid expansion of shrimp ponds along India’s east coast has been a significant driver of mangrove loss. Environmental and social problems linked to this expansion include water pollution, salinization of drinking-water wells and paddy fields, and destruction of wild fish and crustacean larvae – problems serious enough that in 1996, India’s Supreme Court placed stringent restrictions on shrimp farming within 500 metres of the high tide mark. Mangroves are critical ecosystems: they support coastal biodiversity, filter nutrients and pollutants, protect shorelines from erosion, and serve as nursery habitat for wild fish.

Research using satellite data confirms that aquaculture has reduced agricultural land and altered coastal wetland patterns around major shrimp farming clusters. A further concern is that a significant share of shrimp farms operate beyond the areas approved by the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA), indicating gaps in regulatory compliance and enforcement.

Disease, water quality, and chemical use

Intensive aquaculture creates conditions where disease can spread quickly. Higher stocking densities – a direct consequence of the drive for greater yields – increase the risk of bacterial and viral outbreaks. To manage this risk, antibiotics are routinely used in many aquaculture settings, raising concerns about antibiotic resistance and food safety in export markets. White Spot Disease (WSD), caused by a virus, has repeatedly devastated Indian shrimp crops, underlining how disease vulnerability threatens both farmers’ incomes and sector stability.

Habitat loss and the use of chemicals and antibiotics remain the primary concerns raised by environmental groups regarding shrimp farming, and international buyers are increasingly demanding certified, traceable product. Certification schemes like the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP), and GlobalG.A.P. are gaining traction as tools to verify responsible practices, though adoption remains limited among India’s predominantly small-scale producers.

Species diversification: an unmet opportunity

Despite its natural richness, India’s aquaculture production remains heavily concentrated in a small number of species – primarily carp in freshwater and white-leg shrimp in brackish water. Species with commercial potential such as milkfish, grey mullet, mud crab, mussels, oysters, and pearl oysters are cultured in very small quantities, leaving a significant diversification opportunity unexploited. Spreading production across a wider range of species would reduce vulnerability to single-species disease outbreaks, open new export markets, and ease pressure on the ecosystems most affected by intensive monoculture.

The WWF and other international bodies have emphasized that without responsible farming practices, the economic gains from aquaculture can erode the very ecosystems that make production possible. India’s research institutions – including ICAR-CIFA and ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) – are working on diversification, improved seed quality, and sustainable feed formulation, but translating this research into widespread farmer adoption remains a challenge that requires sustained investment in extension services.

A roadmap developed by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership specifically for Andhra Pradesh’s shrimp sector calls for landscape-level governance, improved traceability, and stronger land tenure protections – recognizing that farm-by-farm improvements are insufficient and that regional, systems-level change is necessary to secure the industry’s future.

India’s aquaculture sector stands at a crossroads. The production numbers are impressive – a 38% rise in five years, world-class export revenues, and a technology pipeline that includes AI-assisted monitoring and recirculating systems. But the sector’s long-term sustainability hinges on moving beyond volume and addressing the ecological debts accumulated during decades of rapid, often unregulated, expansion. The tools and knowledge exist; the challenge now is applying them at scale, across hundreds of thousands of small farms, with the regulatory backbone to make it stick.

What do you think? As India pushes toward becoming the world’s largest aquaculture producer, should the government prioritize stricter environmental regulations even if they slow short-term production growth? And with species diversification offering clear ecological and economic benefits, what do you think are the most practical ways to encourage Indian fish farmers to move beyond carp and white-leg shrimp?

References

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Table of Contents

Growth of freshwater aquaculture 🔗

Advances in brackish water aquaculture 🔗

The rise of shrimp farming 🔗

Technology driving productivity 🔗

Sustainability and environmental concerns 🔗

Mangrove destruction and coastal degradation 🔗

Disease, water quality, and chemical use 🔗

Species diversification: an unmet opportunity 🔗