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Amendment Act enables lakhs of small marginal aquaculture farmers to avoid possible need for obtaining Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances from multiple agencies.

The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023 passed by both Houses of the Parliament of India. The Government intends to reiterate that the coastal aquaculture and activities connected therewith are permitted activities within the (Coastal Regulation Zone) CRZ under the CRZ notifications. The Amendment Bill provides that the registration granted under Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act shall prevail and be treated as valid permission under CRZ Notification with the express intention of enabling lakhs of small marginal aquaculture farmers to avoid the possible need for obtaining CRZ clearances from multiple agencies.

Specific exemption has been granted under the CAA Act, through this amendment for the establishment of aquaculture units like hatcheries, Brood stock multiplication centres (BMC) and Nucleus Breeding Centres (NBC) within the No Development Zone (NDZ) [200m from the HTL] of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).

The principal Act has a provision of imprisonment for a period up to 3 years for carrying out coastal aquaculture without registration. This appears to be a very harsh punishment for an offence of purely civil nature and hence the amendment bill replaces the same with suitable civil instruments such as penalty in line with the principle of decriminalizing civil transgressions.

The Amendment Bill provides for broad basing “coastal aquaculture” to comprehensively cover all activities of coastal aquaculture under the purview of this Act and to remove the ambiguity existing in the Principal Act between the farm and other verticals of coastal aquaculture. This is likely to ensure that no coastal aquaculture activity is left out of the ambit of the Act and operate in an environmentally hazardous manner.

The Government intends to promote ease of doing business in coastal aquaculture by fine tuning some of the operational procedures of Coastal Aquaculture Authority. The present amendment provides for effecting changes to the certificate of registration in case of changes in ownership or size of the activity and for providing new certificate in case of mutilation, damage or loss of certificate etc. It also provides for condoning the delay in applying for renewal of registration with compounded fee which was absent in the principal Act.

The Amendments expressly empower the Authority to appoint Committees which can contain experts, stake holders and public representatives for the efficient discharge of its duties and performance of its functions under Act.

Disease prevention is key to success of coastal aquaculture. Hence, Government intends to create facilities that produce genetically improved and disease-free stocks for use in coastal aquaculture. Such facilities, that is Hatcheries, Brood stock Multiplication centers and Nucleus Breeding Centers can be established only in areas having direct access to seawater and the Government intends to enable and facilitate them. Simultaneously, Government also intends to prevent use of antibiotics and pharmacologically active substances in coastal aquaculture by making express provisions in the Act.

Government envisages introducing global best practices such as mapping and zonation of aquaculture areas, Good Aquaculture Practices, quality assurance and safe aquaculture products, and to facilitate ease of doing business without diluting the core principles of environment protection through introducing suitable provisions in the Act. These will promote production and productivity, traceability, increased competitiveness and entrepreneurship along the value chain and exports in coastal aquaculture sector in a sustainable manner and will lead to sustained raise in incomes and employment in rural areas along the coast.

The Amendment Bill has new provisions for empowering the Coastal Aquaculture Authority to better regulate the activities connected with coastal aquaculture for coastal environment compliance. The amendment bill provides for fixing or adopting the standards for emission or discharge of effluents from coastal aquaculture units, making the owner liable to pay the cost of demolition and cost of damage to the environment, if any, as assessed by the Authority in the true spirit of Polluter Pays Principle and prohibits coastal aquaculture in the ecologically sensitive areas or the geo-morphological features.

Amendment Act enables lakhs of small marginal

More than 50 countries to participate in the Global Maritime Summit, 2023 to be held from 17th to 19th October.

The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal launched the curtain raiser of Global Maritime India Summit (GIMS), 2023 in Mumbai. The summit is slated for 17th to 19th October 2023, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, with FICCI as the exclusive industry partner. The event is aimed at unlocking potential for new investment opportunities along with collaborations for knowledge and technology to enhance cooperation in trade and promote Ease of Doing Business (EODB).

Addressing the Curtain Raiser for the upcoming Global Maritime India Summit 2023, Sonowal emphasised the vital role of the maritime sector in India’s economic progression and the potential it holds for the Asia-Pacific region. “India can lead from the front. India’s maritime sector is poised for growth, owing to proactive government policies around, ports, shipping and inland waterways”, said Sonowal.

The curtain raiser event is aimed at creating a global forum of thought leaders as well as industry captains from maritime sector to harness the immense potential of Blue Economy and draw a roadmap to unlock value through creation of investment opportunities in the maritime sector of India. The forum will provide a platform for start-ups, researchers, incubators and innovators to showcase their technology & expertise. The focus areas of GMIS, 2023 are Ports of the Future; Decarbonization; Coastal Shipping & Inland Waterways Transportation; Shipbuilding, repair & recycling; Finance, Insurance & arbitration; Innovation & technology; Maritime Safety & Security and Maritime Tourism.

The Minister said, “As key driver of India’s maritime sector, our ministry has been organising the Global Maritime India Summit, to create value from the vast potential of India’s rich maritime sector. With an identified investment opportunities of more than Rs 10 lakh crores in the maritime sector of the country, we are standing at a threshold of a major economic upswing which can generate employment opportunities for more than 15 lakhs youth of India. This summit has been designed to explore and examine riches of India’s Blue Economy. We hope that the best minds of maritime sector will hedge their goodwill, intent, intelligence and skills to produce a roadmap for a sustainable development of maritime sector as well as our country.”

 Sonowal further added, “We invite all the maritime stakeholders in India and globally to be part of these investment opportunities. India is actively driving the establishment of 5,000 km of multi-country waterways, a significant initiative that will effectively facilitate trade and transportation across the region.”

The curtain raiser concluded with the unveiling of the official GMIS 2023 brochure and the launch of the event’s website and mobile app to provide a comprehensive overview of the summit’s agenda and thematic sessions and will serve as essential resources for participants.

More than 50 countries to participate in