In India, the fish are caught in only 25% part of fish production area. 60% of total fish production of India is obtained from oceans and about 40% is obtained from inland water bodies. 70% of total ocean fish are obtained from western coastal area and 30% from eastern coastal area.

Importance of fish industries in India:

1. This food is rich in protein and makes a balanced diet and protects us from malnutrition. 

2. More than one crore people get employment from this occupation. 

3. Foreign currency is obtained from this occupation. 

4. Many allied industries such as – boat making, fishing equipment, carton, oil – extraction and compost making business are also developed.

Major fishing areas of India: 

Following are the five main regions:

1. Seacoast area: This fish area is developed on sea coastline upto 100 km in the open sea. Most fish of this area are caught in wide open sea upto 40 km. Shark, mackerel, akaki, sardine, ole, catfish, tuna, herring, shrimp and mullet are the main. 

2. River mouth sea area: Fish are caught at the mouth of Ganga, Brahmaputra, Hooghly, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri for 6 – 9 months of the year. Perch, ap, kark, katla, catfish, rehu, hilsa, pomfret, and oyster are the main fish. 

3. Freshwater fishing area: In India freshwater fish are caught from rivers, tanks, dams, lakes, ponds. The fish are also caught from the flowing water of the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Narmada, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri and their tributaries. 

4. Oyster area: In the sea part of India, in wide Gulf of Kutch, coastal sea of Saurashtra, Gulf of Mannar and the sea part near Pamban island of Tamil Nadu, the oyster fish are caught, from which pearl is obtained by injecting a chemical in them. 

5. Shell fish area: These fish are found in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and at the depth of 13 meters of sandy land of Saurashtra coast of Gujarat, these fish are caught from October to May. Their shells are used in temples and other decorative things.

Production: In the production of fish, India occupied second place after China.

According to 2012 – 13, the highest fish producing states are: Andhra Pradesh (18.08 lakh tons), West Bengal (14.09 lakh tons), Gujarat (7.86 lakh tons), Kerala (6.33) lakh tons, Tamil Nadu (6.20 lakh tons), Maharashtra (5.79 lakh tons), Karnataka (5.75 lakh tons) and Odisha (4.10 lakh tons).