Inland fisheries contribute three-fourths of India's fish output yet small-scale inland fishers remain among the most vulnerable. Examine how a National Plan of Action under the FAO SSF Guidelines can address this paradox.

India produced a record 197.75 lakh tonnes of fish in 2024–25, and about three-fourths of it came from inland waters [1]. Yet the fishers who work rivers and reservoirs remain poor and lack secure rights. The NPOA, whose development phase began in October 2026 [1], is FAO's participatory tool for putting the voluntary SSF Guidelines (2014) into practice [2]. It can help resolve this paradox, but only if it changes the rules on who gets access to water.

Roots of the paradox

• Growth is led by fish farming: most new output comes from intensive aquaculture, and PMMSY has approved 52,058 reservoir cages [3]. Cages need capital, so they push out fishers who catch wild fish.
• Insecure tenure: model reservoir rules allow open bidding. Fisheries Cooperative Societies get preference only in small reservoirs [4].
• Ecological stress: falling dissolved oxygen and climate change [1]. The Farakka Barrage (1975) blocked hilsa migration and cut fishers' incomes [5].
• Weak value chains: the sector gives about 28 million people direct jobs, but post-harvest investment is poor [6].

How the NPOA can respond

• Rights first: "fishing rights and resource management" is a core theme [1]. The NPOA could make PMMSY funds depend on States giving local cooperatives and SHGs first right to lease all reservoirs [4].
• Decent work and gender: both are explicit themes, so the plan addresses the informal work done by women and migrant fishers [1].
• Value chains: the NPOA can carry out the Standing Committee's (2024) call for post-harvest investment [6].
• Climate and river health: it can draw on fishers' own knowledge [1] and link with Namami Gange, where hilsa ranching has brought the fish back near Chandauli [5].
• Bottom-up design: FAO describes the process as multi-partner and community-driven [2].

Limitations

• The guidelines are voluntary [2], and fisheries is mainly a State subject [1].
• The 30 MT target [1] needs about 52% growth, against about 38% in the last five years [3]. PMMSY also missed its earlier 220 lakh-tonne target [7]. A target this hard may push officials towards intensive farming at small fishers' expense.

In short, the paradox comes from who gets access, not from how much fish is produced. The NPOA can turn growth into security if it comes with a dated work plan, funding linked to PMMSY, and State-wise public reporting. That would put SDGs 1 and 14 and the constitutional promise of livelihood into practice for India's inland fishers.