Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) is the new fisheries scheme which was announced two weeks ago and formally approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs last week. Just listing a few things which might be of interest: 1/9

1. The PMMSY replaces the earlier scheme which was called Neel Kranti and takes investment from approx. 500 crores/year to 1400 crores/year (in terms of direct central funding).

2. The PMMSY changes the funding modalities between state/centre significantly. It will be important now to follow how individual state/UT fisheries budgets adapt to this shift.

3. The PMMSY makes three shifts in fisheries production: one, it shifts capture effort to deeper waters and to higher value export species (tuna, squid, sharks, rays etc). Two, it shifts production from capture to culture across inland, marine and brackish waters....

...Three, it brings fish production to lands salinised by Green Revolution technologies such as in Punjab, Haryana.

4. The PMMSY takes fish production into the North Eastern states and Himalayan regions. So think salmon/trout farms in Kashmir's colder waters.

5. The PMMSY aims to invest in cold-supply chains, both at sea and on land. That's probably going to be refrigerated carrier vessels at sea, cold storages on land and a multi-modal container transport infrastructure that ties in with the Sagarmala program.

6. The PMMSY sees a big jump in direct spending, and a bigger jump in supporting investment-based production. Investments could come from development finance, aid, portfolio managers, soft loans, direct investment etc.

7. The PMMSY is supported by the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund of 7000 crores and a World Bank loan of 13,000 crores (I don't know the details of this). Overall, this adds up to investments worth 40,000 crores over the next five years.

What does this all mean? The farming of fish is going to take over entire landscapes and seascapes from the lakes of Kashmir to the backwaters of Kerala and from the Exclusive Economic Zone to ponds in the middle of the country. This scheme is not about 'fishing' as we know it.