Carbon emissions from Indian marine sector lower than global average: study

Kochi: The carbon emissions from the Indian marine fisheries sector is much lower than the global level, an ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) research study said.

Presenting the data at a review meeting of the fisheries component of the network research project under the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), CMFRI found that the harvest phase (active fishing) in the country utilised more than 90 per cent of the fuel used in the sector.

In a research in assessing the carbon footprint in India’s marine fisheries, the ICAR-CMFRI has estimated that the sector emits 1.32 tonnes of CO2 (carbon dioxide) to produce one tonne of fish, which is lower than the global average of more than two tonnes for the same quantity.

“This is the assessment of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from total activities in the sector, from pre-harvesting to marketing, by converting it into CO2 equivalent,” CMFRI said in a statement.