What legal and institutional mechanisms govern India's deep-sea fishing activities? Discuss with reference to recent regulatory developments.

India's deep-sea fishing beyond the 12-nautical-mile territorial waters is regulated under the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976, which vests the Union with jurisdiction over the EEZ [1]. Recent rule-making has shifted this domain from an under-regulated frontier to a licence-based, sustainability-linked regime.

Legal mechanisms

• Maritime Zones Act, 1976 — parent statute defining India's EEZ and Union control over living resources within it [1].
• Sustainable Harnessing of Fisheries in the EEZ Rules, 2025, notified in November 2025, operationalise access through authorisations rather than open-entry fishing [3].
• Coastal State marine fishing regulation Acts govern territorial waters, creating a two-tier Centre-State legal division.
• Export-side compliance flows through MPEDA and the Export Inspection Council for catch certification [1].

Institutional mechanisms

• Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (MoFAHD) is the nodal ministry issuing access instruments [1].
• ReALCRaft portal (Registration and Licensing of Fishing Craft), a digital single window for vessel registration and licensing, issues passes free of cost [1].
• Fisheries cooperatives and FFPOs act as aggregation and delivery vehicles; State fisheries departments and institutions like OUAT anchor implementation [2].

Recent regulatory developments

• Union Budget 2025-26 announced the enabling framework for sustainable harnessing of the EEZ and High Seas [1].
• February 2026 — national launch of the EEZ "Access Pass" at Veraval, applicable to mechanised and large motorised vessels above 24 metres; traditional non-motorised craft exempted [1].
• July 2026 — the Vice-President launched Letters of Authorisation for High Seas fisheries at Bhubaneswar, alongside the Odisha Deep Sea Fishing Mission Document [2].

Together, a 1976 statute, 2025 Rules and a digital licensing backbone now form a coherent chain from legislation to the fisher's vessel. Extending scientific stock assessment, vessel monitoring and crew safety training would complete this architecture, advancing the Blue Economy and SDG-14 on sustainable use of ocean resources.