BLUE REVOLUTION

1. Context

2. What is Blue revolution

• The ocean is one of Earth’s most valuable natural resources. Mankind exploits the ocean to meet his energy, food, recreational, military and other needs.
• Oceans are used for transportation-both travel and shipping. Today around 80 per cent of world trade is seaborne.
• Among the world’s oceanic divisions, the Indian Ocean is the third largest, covering an area of more than 70 million sq km that includes extensive Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of different countries and large High seas.
• The economic and sustainable development issues in the Indian Ocean rim are particularly challenging since a majority of littorals are developing countries.
• These countries are home to one-third of the world’s population that rely extensively on marine resources for livelihood and food security.
• The sheer size of this population subjects the Indian Ocean’s resources to pressures from pollution, habitat degradation and over-exploitation.
• As the population of the region is projected to increase significantly in the coming decades its impact on food security and the economy from marine resources would become more substantial.

3. Maritime Governance and Blue Economy

• With its geographic and geostrategic position in and critical dependence on the Indian Ocean, India has been leading the Blue Economy discourse at the highest level of the Government, with a greater focus on the Indian Ocean region.
• The essence of this approach was spelt out by Government for seeking “Security And Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR).
• The Indian Ocean is vital to the economies, security, and livelihoods of its vital to the economies, security and livelihoods of its littoral states.

• The Current Governance Framework of Marine resource management in the Indian Ocean explores the challenges in Blue economy development to ensure sustainable development in the region.
• Maritime security is essential to ensure a holistic approach toward the governance, use and maintenance of Oceans.

4. Concept of Blue Economy

• The Blue Economy encompasses a wide range of economic activities about the sustainable development of resources and assets in the oceans, related rivers, water bodies, and coastal regions in a manner that ensures equity, inclusion, innovation and modern technology.
• Subtly distinguishable from the “Ocean Economy” in terms of nuance and emphasis, the blue economy is a newer and more contemporary term, popular with Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as well as international organisations, media, experts and governments in a growing number of countries.
• The Blue Economy is viewed as an integral element of Sustainable Development Goals.

5. Importance of Blue Economy

• It would as Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) points out, “Contribute to food security, poverty alleviation, the mitigation of and resilience to the impacts of climate change, enhanced trade and investment, enhanced maritime connectivity, enhanced diversification, job creation and socio-economic growth”.
• From the Business perspective, Blue Economy requires innovative and dynamic business models, forming business connections between India and other relevant countries, especially those located in the Indian Ocean region.

6. India’s Blue Economy

• India’s Blue Economy concept is multi-faceted and plays an important role in the country’s economic growth because of its enormous maritime interests. It accounts for roughly 4 per cent of the GDP.
• The sector has stood strong despite the challenges caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic and has recorded exports worth US$ 7.2 billion between April 2021-February 2022.

7. Ocean resources

• Ocean resources, Physical infrastructure for maritime economic development, marine amenities and coastal management services are all part of the plan to ensure economic growth and sustainability, as well as national security.
• Fisheries and minerals are the two most viable components of the blue economy in India.
• The two mineral deposits of commercial significance to developers in the Indian Ocean are Polymetallic nodules, which are golf-to-tennis-ball-sized nodules containing nickel, cobalt, iron and manganese that grow over millions of years on the seafloor, are often discovered at 4-5 Kms in water depth.
• In 1987, India was granted exclusive rights to explore polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin.
• It has explored four million square miles and established two mine locations since then.

 8. Coastal Economy

• The Coastal Economy sustains over 4 million fishermen and coastal towns. India is the second largest fish-producing nation in the world and has a fleet of 2, 50, 000 fishing boats.
• India comprises 200 ports of which 12 are major ports that handled 541.76 million tonnes in FY 2021, the highest being Mormugao Port located in Goa, which handled 62.6 per cent of the total traffic.
• Shipping and shipbuilding are also important aspects of the blue economy in India.
• The model share of coastal shipping has the potential to increase to 33 per cent by 2035.
• Most of the country’s oil and gas are supplied by sea, leading to making the Indian Ocean region critical to India’s economic growth. This reliance is expected to increase dramatically by 2025.
• India has significant diplomatic interests in the Indo-Pacific and international commitments in the region under the UNCLOS, such as Search and Rescue, seabed mining and counter-piracy.

9. Blue Revolution: Integrated development and Management of Fisheries

• Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) was established in 2015-16 with a five-year budget of Rs. 3, 000 crores.
• The Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) was established in 2018-19 with a fund size of Rs. 7, 522. 48 crores to provide concessional credit to state / UT governments, their entities and the private sector to fill significant gaps in the fisheries infrastructure.
• Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) was launched in May 2020, with the highest investment of Rs. 20, 050 crores to bring about a Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of the country’s fisheries sector.

10. Maritime Security Strategy

• India’s maritime security strategy focuses on all aspects of the challenges including the ocean economy that are affecting the health and the future of oceans and countries.
• As it combines the traditional and non-traditional security paradigms of maritime security, it provides a cohesive definition that is apt to address prevalent challenges such as environmental degradation, ocean trade security, migration, climate change, energy security, drug trafficking and privacy among other non-traditional challenges.
• Climate change, environmental degradation, access to resources, expanding sea lanes, and the evolving international ocean regime highlight the need to focus on maritime security.
• With nations committed to fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals towards Blue Economy, the role of oceans in this is significant.
• Addressing the strategic, environmental and ocean ecosystem challenges is one of the greatest challenges for India and the world.
• Maritime security is an enabler of the Blue Economy, for example through safeguarding navigation routes, providing important oceanographic data to marine industries and protecting rights over valuable marine resources and activities within claimed zones of maritime jurisdiction.
• The non-traditional security threats affect the military and strategy, policy, operations, training, capacity building and environmental protection.
• The Security issues have also seen a transition as maritime security moved from military and traditional issues to non-traditional security threats.
• Today, minerals are significant drivers of economic development. India and China are the most active nations in the Indian Ocean Region. China is already exploring minerals at the South-West Indian Border.
• There are huge opportunities but uncertainty still looms over mineral exploration with the possibility of large-scale pollution.
• There is a need to conduct further research to understand the impacts of deep-sea mining on the ocean ecosystem and ecology.
• Unregulated and illegal fishing is another aspect that endangers the ocean ecology and while checks and balances have been established to address illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), the current international law regime still lacks rigid barriers and stringent mechanisms to address the rising problem.

11. Indian Coast Guard (ICG)

• Indian coast Guard plays a far bigger role in averting major pollution incidents, anti-poaching and Search and Rescue, its importance as an essential actor in non-traditional security is well established.
• The role of Indian Maritime Forces and the definitions of maritime security have changed especially in the Indian context, highlighting the myriad challenges and opportunities of the current maritime global order that would be faced by India in the coming decades while pursuing a Blue Economy.

11.1 Duties of ICG

• As India is all set to achieve the goals of the Blue Economy, the role of ICG becomes very crucial. The duties of ICG as enshrined align with the Blue economy vision of the Government.
• Indian Coast Guard is one of the major maritime law enforcement agencies in the Indian Ocean Region.
• India focuses on the development of sectors viz. fisheries, shipping, port and maritime logistics, marine coastal tourism and leisure, conventional minerals exploration and production and marine construction activities.
• Other emerging sectors are renewable ocean offshore extraction of oil and gas in deep-sea and other extreme locations, seabed mining for metals and minerals, marine aquaculture, marine biotechnology, ocean monitoring, control and surveillance and education and research which can be harnessed to our advantage.
• Indian Coast Guard is the Nation’s premier maritime agency. They provide a broad array of services to protect people and the maritime environment.
• The Indian Coast Guard has been carrying out duties such as oil spill response, helping mariners in distress at sea, warning vessels during bad weather offering assistance during scientific experiments and augmenting the national defence resources.

12. Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca

• India has a 7517 km coastline, 1197 islands and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) spanning 2.01 million sq km, which is expected to go up to almost 3 million sq km after the delimitation of the continental shelf.
• India is strategically located between two important choke points namely the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca, through which most of the trade in commercial shipping moves in the Indian Ocean.
• These straits and rime of the Indian Ocean are laced with a large number of countries from four continents-Asia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica.
• It is a large mass of water that has deep-lying resources and dense traffic. The traffic of hazardous and noxious substances for industrial and energy purposes is constantly increasing.
• Many of the nations in the rim have political problems and regional stability is therefore only transitory.
• Privacy and other transnational crimes support militant activism and homemade insurgencies.

13. Conclusion

• In pursuit of the SDGs of Blue Economy, revolutions in maritime transportation and information systems, growth of ports and shipping, mineral research and exploitation, emerging threats to the marine environment and changing national security concerns will shape the course of the Nation.
•  With mindful responsibilities the ICG has charted its course and embarked on an ambitious plan to renew assets and increase capabilities, by matching its high-performing people with modern equipment and technologies, the Indian Coast Guard will remain always ready to meet the challenges ahead.

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