Framework for mariculture water lease policy in India

Globally, coastal aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food sector industries. The production from coastal ecosystem through farming, which was less than 0.5 million tonnes in 1950, increased to 10 million tonnes in 1990 and to 36 million tonnes by 2007 (F AO, 2009). Currently nearly 106 nations are involved in farming marine organisms. During the last six and half decades, the potential of aquaculture for food production and the alleviation of poverty optie people living in coastal areas, many of whom are among the poorest in the world, were widely recogoized and legal policies were drafted in many countries and implemented to support the farmers.