Abstract: | This article argues that in the period since 1900 marine capture fisheries are more profitably characterised by a quest for wealth than by enduring poverty. Making use of country data from India, it maintains that the blue revolution that took place in the South not only retained a steadily growing fishing population, but also provided opportunities for large numbers of immigrants, mainly in the lower echelons of the industry. It subsequently investigates the variations between geographical regions and sub‐sectors, and explains them by reference to non‐governmental institutional control patterns. |