J&K Takes Lead In India's Growing Appetite For Fish, New Study Unveils

Srinagar: A new study conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and WorldFish, in collaboration with several key institutions, has found that fish consumption in India has increased significantly with Jammu and Kashmir leading the fish consumption across India with a remarkable increase.

The study, Fish Consumption in India: Patterns and Trends, sheds light on the diverse fish consumption patterns across different states and provides valuable insights into the socioeconomic factors, cultural shifts, economic growth, and potential for the fisheries sector.

India has observed a notable transformation in non-vegetarian food consumption patterns, with a significant uptick in the population including fish in their diet climbing to 72 percent in 2021 from 66 percent in 2005, the study says. In the case of Jammu and Kashmir, fish consumption among the population has jumped from 61 percent in 2005 to 82 percent in 2021, the study highlights adding that it is the highest increase in percentage points in any state or union territory in the country.

“There was a remarkable increase in the proportion of people eating fish in most of the states, led by Jammu and Kashmir (20.9 percentage points), with the exception of Punjab where it decreased (3.9 percentage points),” the study says.

Boosted incomes of people, investments in aquaculture development and improvement in road and other developmental infrastructure is said to be the important reasons for increased consumption in Jammu & Kashmir.

“Lot of investments over last two decades on road and rail infrastructure to connect nook and corners of Kashmir with mainland might have directly increased the supply of fish along with other food commodities from