Lok Sabha Question No. 4183 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-19
Subject: Protection of  Fisheries Sector
Ministry: FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING
Asked by: Shri Ve Vaithilingam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 4183 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19 th  AUGUST, 2025

## Protection of Fisheries Sector

## 4183. Shri Ve Vaithilingam:

Will  the  Minister  of FISHERIES,  ANIMAL  HUSBANDRY  AND  DAIRYING be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government has taken any steps to raise awareness about the threats facing  like  overfishing  habitat  destruction  and  illegal  fishing  practices  in  the  country  in fisheries sector;
- (b)   whether the steps taken by the Government to protect the rights of small scale fishers who are often among the most marginalized and vulnerable groups; and
- (c)   if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR FISHERIES, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND DAIRYING (SHRI GEORGE KURIAN)

(a) to (c): 'Fisheries' is a State Subject. All coastal States and Union Territories (UTs) are governing  marine  fisheries  through  their  respective  Marine  Fishing  Regulation  Acts (MFRAs). The areas for fishing by the small-scale fishers are reserved under the MFRAs to protect their livelihood interests.

The Department of Fisheries, Government of India (DoF, GoI) is implementing a flagship scheme namely 'Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)' with highest ever estimated investment of Rs. 20050 crore for overall development of the fisheries sector and socio-economic wellbeing of traditional and small scale fishers. The DoF, GoI has also notified  the  'National  Policy  on  Marine  Fisheries,  2017'  to  guide  the  responsible  and sustainable fishing in the country. Besides, the DoF, GoI has issued advisories from time to time to all the coastal States/UTs for preventing juvenile fishing and ban on destructive fishing practices for ensuring sustainability. Paired bottom trawling or bull trawling and use of LED lights in fishing are banned in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India. All the maritime States/UTs have also been advised to take necessary steps to prevent pair or bull trawling and use of LED light for fishing within and beyond the territorial waters. Besides, the DoF, GoI has also advised to coastal states/UTs to review and amend their respective MFRAs to ensure mandatory use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) towards marine turtle conservation.  The  implementation  of  TED  has  been  included  and  supported  under  the PMMSY scheme with 100% financial assistance (60% Central + 40% State).

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).

Similarly, the coastal States/UTs are also implementing the fishing ban within their territorial waters in line with the uniform ban implemented in the EEZ by the DoF, GoI. The livelihood and nutritional support for socio-economically backward active traditional fishers during the fishing ban/lean period as well as the group accidental insurance scheme for the active fishers is covered under the PMMSY. Further, studies on fish stocks revealed that the stocks are in good health and 91.1% of the 135 fish stocks evaluated in different regions during 2022 were found sustainable.

Under the PMMSY, the Government of India has, for the first time, extended support for activities such as sea ranching and installation of Artificial Reefs along the entire coastline of India to prevent habitat destruction, enhancing the fish stocks and supporting livelihood of 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 sustainable manner.

The PMMSY also includes a component 'Development of 100 Coastal Fishermen Villages as Climate Resilient Coastal Fishermen Villages (CRCFV)', in various States and UTs, to transform them to economically vibrant fishermen villages by providing support to a basket of  activities  that  includes  infrastructure  components  and  economic  activities  that  aid enhancing the resilience of the villages to climate change impacts.

A sub-component namely 'Assistance for Deep Sea Fishing' and another component of 'Conversion  of  Trawlers  into  Resource  Specific  Deep-Sea  Fishing  Vessels'  were implemented under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) 'Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries' to provide financial assistance to traditional fishermen for promotion of resource specific deep-sea fishing. The DoF, GoI had introduced the  components  namely,  'Support  for  acquisition  of  Deep-Sea  Fishing  vessels  for traditional fishermen' and 'Up-gradation of existing fishing vessels for export competency' under PMMSY, to provide financial assistance to traditional fishermen for promotion of resource specific deep-sea fishing in all coastal States and UTs.

The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), and the R&D Institutions such as the Fishery Survey of India (under DoF, GoI), the Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (under  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences)  and  Fisheries  Research  Institutes  under  the  Indian Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  have  undertaken  a  series  of  initiatives  in association with State Fisheries Departments to raise awareness on critical threats to the fisheries  sector  including  overfishing,  habitat  degradation,  and  prevention  of  illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. These efforts encompass national and regional workshops, stakeholder consultations and capacity-building programs that train fishers with sustainable  fishing  techniques,  by-catch  reduction  device,  safe  handling  practices  and bycatch mitigation measures, river ranching and sea ranching programs to enhance the fish stocks,  responsible  and  efficient  fishing  methods  and  to  address  environmental  and sustainability issues of the marine fishing.

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