A fisheries sector can raise production for years and still be destroying the resource it depends on, because the catch keeps rising while the stock is being drawn down. That is why ICAR-CMFRI's finding — that 91.1% of the 135 assessed stocks in India's Exclusive Economic Zone are at sustainable levels — matters more than the production figure beside it. Read together, rising output alongside stable stocks suggests the growth is coming substantially from aquaculture and from better utilisation rather than from harder fishing of the same wild populations. The release is careful on a related point: while environmental stressors do affect the distribution, abundance and seasonal availability of certain species, no direct and conclusive impact on overall marine fish production has been established from climate variability and marine pollution alone. The remaining problem is loss rather than catch. Post-harvest losses of 6% to 10% and bycatch of 20% to 40% mean a substantial share of what is taken from the sea is wasted, which is what the cold chain, harbour modernisation and selective gear programmes are aimed at.