Critically evaluate the 2025 framework for harnessing fisheries in India's EEZ and the High Seas, and its implications for food security and maritime security.

Union Budget 2025-26 announced an enabling framework for sustainable harnessing of fisheries in India's EEZ and the High Seas. It focuses on Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep, which together hold about half of India's EEZ and nearly 2.5 lakh tonnes of untapped potential [1]. The legal base is sound, but the sustainability safeguards are weaker than the targets.

Strengths

• Legal clarity: EEZ Rules were notified on 4 November 2025 [2]. Mechanised and large motorised vessels need an Access Pass, which is free and issued online through ReALCRaft [3].
• Equity: Traditional and small-scale fishers are exempt. Cooperatives and FFPOs get priority [2].
• Conservation: LED-light fishing, pair trawling and bull trawling are restricted [2].
• Beyond the EEZ: The High Seas Guidelines, 2025 and the Letter of Authorisation give Indian-flagged vessels a legal route to oceanic tuna [4].
• Value addition: Customs duty on surimi was cut from 30% to 5% [5].

Weaknesses

• Shared, overfished stock: The IOTC treats yellowfin tuna as overfished. India objected to the IOTC rebuilding plan (Resolution 21/01) [6], so a large tuna push could be called free-riding.
• Fragile ecology: Marine heatwaves caused intense coral bleaching in Lakshadweep [7]. This threatens island fisheries that depend on reefs.
• Implementation: About 64,000 mechanised vessels need passes [2]. Monitoring and catch reporting at that scale have not been tested.

Implications for food security

• More oceanic catch adds affordable protein and spreads fishing beyond the crowded near-shore zone [1].
• But the duty cuts favour export processing [5]. Without domestic cold chains, the gains may skip local nutrition.

Implications for maritime security

• Foreign vessels cannot get an Access Pass [3]. This protects the resource and checks illegal fishing.
• A digital pass registry makes vessels in the EEZ identifiable, which helps coastal surveillance [3]. LoA-backed fleets extend India's presence on the High Seas [4].
• If India does not follow IOTC rules, it risks diplomatic friction in regional fisheries forums [6].

The framework gives India the legal structure for a Blue Economy but not yet the ecological limits. The way forward:

• set tuna targets in line with IOTC measures;
• tie Access Passes to catch reporting;
• check reef health through CMFRI before fishing effort grows;
• put domestic cold chains first.

This would make it a model of sustainable growth in line with SDG 14 (Life Below Water).