The Real Crisis in India’s Fisheries

Syllabus: GS3/Economy

Context

• The Government of India, citing CMFRI data, claimed that 91.1% of 135 evaluated fish stocks were “sustainable” in 2022, projecting India’s marine fisheries as a global success story. 
• However, this optimistic picture contrasts sharply with FAO’s assessment, which describes Indian marine fisheries as having plateaued due to overcapacity, and with decades of fisher testimony reporting declining catches and vanishing species. 

Key Concerns with Official Claims

• Methodology Used:  Compared with many other fishing nations, CMFRI continues to rely primarily on landing data rather than stock assessments.
  • It calculates the availability of fish stocks in India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) — which includes up to 200 nautical miles (371 km) of sea area around the country, based on what fishermen catch.
  • Other nations make use of stock assessments at sea itself, thereby calculating how much aquatic life is available in certain waters. 
  • This is the more reliable method to determine the health of fish stocks.
• Decline of Inshore Ecosystems: India is surrounded by a relatively narrow continental shelf, where fishing is always the most productive. This continental shelf is broadest in Gujarat and a part of Maharashtra, but remains quite narrow along the rest of the sub-continent.
  • These waters provide favourable ecological conditions for commercially valuable species such as shrimp to feed, breed and grow.
  • The construction of dams on rivers and destruction of mangroves impact the inshore fishing more than it impacts the distant waters.
• Mechanised Trawling: One of the many factors contributing to decline of fisheries is the expansion of mechanised trawling, which was introduced in around 1960.
  • This oversized fleet of mechanised trawlers ploughs the inshore seabed in a continuous fashion. 
  • In heavily trawled areas, this results in a decline of all animal and plant life. 

Governance Failures

• The 5 nautical mile no trawling zone meant to protect inshore waters for small scale fishers is poorly enforced.
• Coastal states lack adequate patrolling staff and vessels.
• Fishers themselves are excluded from co management arrangements, weakening compliance and local monitoring.
• Result is both small scale and mechanised fishers are being pushed toward overcrowded offshore and deep sea zones.

Government Initiatives to Protect Fisheries in India

• Marine Fishing Regulation Acts (MFRAs): ‘Fisheries’ is a State Subject, all coastal States and Union Territories (UTs) are governing marine fisheries through their respective MFRAs. 
• Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY): It is being implemented for the overall development of the fisheries sector and socio-economic wellbeing of traditional and small-scale fishers.
  • The activities such as mariculture including seaweed cultivation and open sea cage culture are promoted under PMMSY to alleviate the fishing pressure in nearshore waters, and boost marine fisheries production in a sustainable manner.  
  • The PMMSY also includes a component “Development of 100 Coastal Fishermen Villages as Climate Resilient Coastal Fishermen Villages (CRCFV)”,.
• National Policy on Marine Fisheries 2017: It guides responsible and sustainable fishing in the country.
• Government Advisories: Paired bottom trawling or bull trawling and use of LED lights in fishing are banned in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India. 
  • GoI has also advised coastal states/UTs to review and amend their respective MFRAs to ensure mandatory use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) towards marine turtle conservation.
• Uniform Ban Period on Fishing: For enhancement of the fish stocks and sea safety reasons the uniform ban on fishing for 61 days is implemented annually in the EEZ beyond territorial waters on both the coasts (i.e., 15th April to 14th June in the East Coast, and 1st June to 31st July in the West Coast).
• The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), and the R&D Institutions have undertaken a series of initiatives in association with State Fisheries Departments to raise awareness on critical threats to the fisheries sector. 

Way Forward

• Shift from landing data to scientific stock assessments for credible sustainability claims, aligning with global best practices.
• Strengthen inshore zone enforcement through better state capacity, satellite/AIS based monitoring, and community co management involving fisher cooperatives.
• Restrict mechanised fleet expansion, particularly engine upgrades that increase trawling intensity, and enforce the 5 NM boundary strictly.
• Address land based stressors: mangrove restoration, pollution control, and environmental flow requirements for rivers feeding coastal ecosystems.
• Recalibrate deep sea fishing policy as a supplementary, not primary, strategy, given limited biological potential.
• CMFRI mandate expansion to include systematic benthic ecosystem health studies, not just catch based sustainability indices.
• Bilateral engagement with Sri Lanka on Palk Bay fishing through structured, time bound transition mechanisms away from bottom trawling.

Conclusion

• India’s marine fisheries policy suffers from a data credibility gap and a governance vacuum in the most ecologically productive inshore zone. 
• Genuine sustainability requires moving beyond output centric optics toward science based stock assessment, inshore ecosystem restoration, and inclusive fisheries governance that balances livelihoods with ecological limits.

Source: TH