India, Israel Eye Aquaculture Innovation under New Pact
Eilat/New Delhi: India and Israel have signed a Joint Ministerial Declaration of Intent to deepen cooperation in fisheries and aquaculture, a move that policymakers see as reinforcing India’s Blue Economy strategy by linking technology-led sustainability with livelihood-intensive sectors across coastal, island and inland states.
The declaration was signed on January 14, 2026, during a visit by a high-level Indian delegation led by Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh to Israel, on the sidelines of the Second Global Summit on Blue Food Security: Sea the Future 2026 in Eilat. Officials described the agreement as a long-term framework rather than a time-bound project, aimed at pairing Israel’s advanced aquaculture and water-management technologies with India’s scale, biodiversity and expanding seafood markets.
The agreement comes at a time when fisheries have become a strategic pillar of India’s Blue Economy. The sector contributes about 1.2 per cent to India’s Gross Domestic Product and more than 7 per cent to agricultural Gross Value Added, while providing employment and livelihoods to nearly 28 million people. India’s seafood exports, valued at around 8 billion dollars annually, have turned traceability, disease control and sustainability into core policy concerns rather than peripheral issues.
For coastal states such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal, which account for a large share of marine fisheries and shrimp aquaculture, the cooperation framework offers pathways to improve productivity while addressing ecological stress. Technologies such as recirculating aquaculture systems, biofloc and cage culture, highlighted in the declaration, are seen as tools to reduce dependence on open-water systems, limit disease outbreaks and lower water use—an increasingly important factor in climate-vulnerable coastal belts.
Island territories such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are also expected to be key beneficiaries. Policymakers view mariculture, seaweed cultivation and offshore cage farming as economically viable options for islands where land is scarce but marine resources are abundant. Israeli expertise in controlled aquaculture environments and marine resource management is expected to inform pilot projects that balance income generation with fragile island ecosystems.
Inland fisheries, which support millions of small farmers and fishers across states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Chhattisgarh and parts of central India, form another critical dimension of the agreement. Advanced breeding systems, pathogen-free seed development and genetic improvement programmes outlined in the declaration are aimed at raising yields in ponds, tanks and reservoirs, where productivity remains uneven despite strong domestic demand.
A central policy element of the agreement is its emphasis on sustainability and governance. Cooperation in technology-based fisheries monitoring and data collection systems is intended to strengthen evidence-based management, improve transparency and support traceability from catch or pond to market. Officials say this is increasingly essential for maintaining export competitiveness, particularly in markets where environmental and labour standards are tightly scrutinised.
Capacity building is positioned as a cross-cutting priority, with proposed initiatives spanning deep-sea fishing, vessel design, coastal aquaculture and marine conservation. Exchange programmes for fishers, aquaculture farmers, scientists and policymakers, along with training in modern fish processing and marketing, are expected to support skill upgradation at the state and district levels, where implementation challenges are often most acute.
Trade facilitation has also been built into the framework, with provisions for dialogue on exports and imports, addressing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deploying technology-driven traceability systems. For exporting states and seafood clusters, officials believe this could help move India up the value chain rather than relying primarily on volume-led growth.
Institutionally, the declaration proposes exploring new Indo–Israel Centres of Excellence for Fisheries and Aquaculture, modelled on the existing network of 43 agricultural Centres of Excellence established under bilateral cooperation. These centres are expected to function as regional hubs for demonstration, training and localisation of technologies, allowing state governments to adapt global best practices to local ecological and socio-economic conditions.
Taken together, the agreement reflects a policy shift in how fisheries are being positioned within India’s development framework. Rather than treating it solely as a welfare-linked sector, the Blue Economy approach seeks to integrate food security, exports, employment and climate resilience. By combining India’s geographic diversity—from coastal waters and islands to inland ponds—with Israel’s innovation-led aquaculture systems, officials said the partnership aims to deliver durable gains in productivity and sustainability across states.
– global bihari bureau
