FISHERIES

Fisheries Legislations

Operation

The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act (1974, as amended) provides for the prevention and control of water pollution, for the maintenance or restoration of the wholesomeness of water, and for the establishment of (central and state) Pollution Control Boards. The Act defines "trade effluent" for these purposes as "any liquid, gaseous or solid substance which is discharged from any premises used for carrying on any industrial operation or any treatment or disposal operation other than domestic sewage treatment". Hence, an aquaculture farmer will be required to obtain an authorization from the Pollution Control Board to set up a treatment and disposal system that is likely to discharge sewage or trade effluent into waters or onto the land.

Relevant provisions, though again of a general nature and not specifically related to aquaculture, can also be found in the Environment (Protection) Act. Under the Act, effluents discharged from aquaculture farms may be within the definitions of "environmental pollutant", "environmental pollution" and "hazardous substance". The Act generally prohibits any person carrying on any industry, operation or process to discharge or emit any environmental pollutants in excess of the standards as prescribed in the Schedules under the Act. The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules (1989, as amended) further regulates the collection, reception, treatment storage and disposal of hazardous wastes.

Recently, the Aquaculture Authority issued Guidelines on the need for Effluent Treatment System (ETS) in shrimp farms (see below). The Guidelines state that all shrimp farms of 5 ha water spread area and above locetad within the CRZ, and 10 ha water spread area and above located outside the CRZ, should set up an ETS or effluent treatment ponds/facilities. The Guidelines als refer to the need for a common ETS for clusters of shrimp farms, where each farm is less than 5 ha in size.

There is no specific legislation on fish movement.

Relevant to aquaculture may be the Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972, as recently amended in 2003) , which provides for the protection of wild animals (including fish) with a view to ensuring ecological and environmental security.

There is no specific legislation for disease control within aquaculture facilities. However, a Compendium on Aquatic Medicines and Animal Health Management is under preparation within the Aquaculture Authority.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960) prevents the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on animals. Animal is defined as "any living creature other than a human being". Under the Act, the Breeding of and Experiments on Animals (Control and Supervision) Rules (1998, as amended) state that no establishment shall carry on the business of breeding of animals, perform experiments on animals or trade animals for the purpose of experiments, unless it is registered. Under the Rules, experiments include new technologies involving transgenic or genetic manipulation.

At present, there is no specific legislation to control the use of chemicals and drugs in aquaculture. However, Order No 722 (E) (2002)

Includes a list of antibiotics and other pharmacologically active substances that are prohibited in the culture of, or in any hatchery for producing the juveniles or larvae or nauplii of, or in any unit manufacturing feed for or in any unit pre-processing or processing shrimp, prawns or any other variety of fish and fishery products.

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has published standards for shrimp feed (and seed), available at http://www.mpeda.com/ .

References

Legislation