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Perspective Article
Fishery Production and Development Perspective of Nepal
Peifen Zhuang* and Amogh Ghimire
College of Economics, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
*Corresponding author: Peifen Zhuang, College of Economics, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China, Tel: +86 13003886368; E-mail: pfzhuang@hotmail.com
Citation: Zhuang P, Ghimire A (2017) Fishery Production and Development Perspective of Nepal. J Aquat Res Mar Sci 2017: 1-4. doi: https://doi.org/10.29199/ARMS.101012
Received Date: 07 September, 2017; Accepted Date: 18 September, 2017; Published Date: 06 October, 2017
Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to analyze the Nepal fishery production and its current development status. In the year 2016, domestic production increased by 59 times more than the year 1960. Nepal import amounting NRS 5.4 billion fishery from 26 nations from last 7 years. Most of the fishery import from India that was 92% and Vietnam 6% in total monetary value. Nepal export fishery amounting NRS 12.1 million to 4 nations. Most of the fishery export to China that was 76% and India 23% in total monetary value. Nepal has 1.1 Billion NRS trade deficit from a fishery in the year 2016. Nepal needs to grow more fisheries by adopting modern technology and utilizing available resources so that, it in near future it will help reduce the trade deficit and become self-sufficient in the fisheries sector.
Keywords: Fishery Production; Nepal; Trade
Introduction
Nepal is landlocked country located between two bordering nation India at South, East and West and China at North. It covers an area of 147,181 km2 with a population of 29.8 million in 2016. Its geography is divided into three physiographic areas: Mountain (high altitude along with colder climate conditions in the northern belt), Hill (Moderate climate conditions), and Terai (warmer climate conditions in southern belt). The country experiences special season and climate conditions, such as there are 5-climate zones and 5 seasons in a year. Nepal has a large amount of water resource availability in the form of snow covers (3,252 glaciers with total coverage of 5,323 km2), rivers (6,000 rivers including tributaries and rivulets), springs, lakes (5,358 lakes including 2,323 glacial lakes), and groundwater (12 km3) [1]. Nepal has been dreadfully dependent on inland water resources for their fish production. There are many inland water resources available like lakes, water reservoir, rivers, irrigated field and fishponds that are suitable for fisheries and aquaculture development. Nepal has a relatively short history in aquaculture which begun on the mid-1940s with Indian major carp seed from India in small-scale ponds [2]. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the Nepal fishery production and its current development status.
Water Resources for Fishery Production
At present (2015-2016), about 77,000 metric tons of fish were produced in Nepal. The fishery production from rivers, lakes, reservoirs, marginal, swamps, ghouls, etc., and paddies are shown in table1. Nepal has huge fishery resources, but these have not yet been properly evaluated.
Table 1: Estimated Water Surface Area and Fish Production from Capture Fishery (2016). |
Fish Species
In Nepal, 239 species reported to be found in Nepal but at the current situation, 202 species are available [3]. According to The IUCN Red List threat category (Table 2), currently, 8 Species are listed as threatened due to the high geographical variation, conservation dependent and uncommon or lower risk least concern species [4]. Chuchee asala (Schizothoraichthys spp), katle (Neolissochelius hexagon ole pis), Snow trout (Schizothorax spp), locally also known as asala, and mahseer (Tor spp.) is the economically most valuable home-grown species [5].
Table 2: List of Threatened Fishery. |
Production Areas
In Inland production, major fishery areas were located at Terai belt that has lowland region characteristics. More than 88% of pond numbers are located in Terai and rest other 11% and 1% located at Hill and Mountain region, respectively [6]. In Terai region, production efficiency level was higher than Hill and Mountain region due to the climate condition. The warmer conditions are favorable for fish growth [7] (Table 3).
Table 3: Pond Fish Culture (data of the year 2016). |
Domestic production
In the year 1960, Nepal was able to produce only 1,300 tons of fishery per year. Slowly and gradually in the year 2015 [8], Nepal was able to produce 69,500 tons per year (Figure 1). From the year 1960-2015, mean value of production was 19,140 tons and the standard deviation was 20,005.
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Import fishery
In the year 2009-2016, Nepal import fishery from 26 nations. The total cost was NRS 5.40 billion for imported fishery from 26 nations in last seven years (Table 4). Nepal mainly imports fishery from India which was worth NRS 4.9 billion and followed by Vietnam and Thailand amounting NRS 299.4 and NRS 34.3 million, respectively. Nepal mainly imported fishery from India which was 62,809.9 tons and followed by Vietnam and P.R. China 1,455.8 tons and 128.5 tons, respectively [9]. The least monetary and quantity, Nepal had imported from France was NRS 1,847 and Saudi Arabia was 2 kg, respectively.
Table 4: Major Importing Nation (2009-2016). |
Export fishery
In the year 2009-2016, Nepal export fish to 4 nations [9]. The total NRS 12.10 million was exported to 4 nations during 7 years’ period (Table 5). The highest fish export goes to China that was 76% and followed by India 23% in total monetary value. The least monetary value, Nepal had export to Sweden, which was NRS 11,297.
Table 5: Major Exporting Nation (2009-2016). |
Trade deficit
In the year 2016, Nepal has 1.10 Billion NRS trade deficit from a fishery that was increased by 7.3 times compared to the year 2009. In the year 2009, the trade deficit was 158 million (Figure 2). From the year 2009-2016, mean value was NRS 693.4 million and the standard deviation was NRS 389,994,853.12.
 |
Conclusion
Nepal has huge fishery resources, but these have not yet been properly explored and utilized. In Nepal, 239 species were found in various places. At the current situation, among these, only 8 species were listed as threatened. In Nepal, Terai region has great scope for fishery due to a relatively warmer temperature which is more suitable for fish growth. Domestic fishery production was increasing year by year, but the trade deficit was growing side by side. Nepal has been a major importer of fish from India and exporter to China in terms of money and quantity, during last few years. In near future, Nepal needs to work on the commercial production of the fishery in order to minimize the trade deficit and become self-sufficient in the fisheries sector.
References
- GoN (2017) Progress report 2017. National Lake Conservation Development Committee (NLCDC), Nepal.
- FAO (2017) Fisheries Global Information System (FIGIS). Statistics and Information Branch (FIAS).
- Fishbase (2017) List of Threatened species. Stockholm, Sweden.
- IUCN (2017) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2017-2.
- Gautam N (2015) Challenges of freshwater fisheries in Nepal: a short overview. Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol 3: 579-583.
- SINA (2016) Statistical information on Nepalese agriculture-2015/2016. Ministry of Agricultural Development, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Austreng E, Storebakken T, Åsgård T (1987) Growth rate estimates for cultured Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout. Aquaculture 60: 157-160.
- World Bank (2017) Data bank-database, Nepal.
- GoN (2017) Export Import Data Bank, Version 1.5. Trade and Export Promotion Centre. Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal.