Island fisheries at the centre of India’s Blue Economy push

1. At a Glance

• What it is: The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying has a strategy to make Lakshadweep and the Andaman & Nicobar (A&N) Islands the bases of India's tuna, seaweed and ornamental fisheries. [1]
• Core idea: Earn more from each fish through processing, cold chains, canning and export links. The aim is to go "beyond resource extraction" rather than just catch more. [1]
• Why it matters: The islands hold a very large share of India's EEZ and sit near tuna migration routes. They are the way into oceanic fishing grounds the mainland cannot easily reach. [1][5]
• UPSC relevance: It covers several areas at once: Blue Economy, PMMSY, the EEZ/High Seas framework, the cluster approach, maritime security and island ecology.

2. Why in the News

• 10 Nov 2026: The Ministry released its strategy putting island fisheries at the centre of the Blue Economy push. It builds on the Union Budget 2025-26 focus on EEZ and High Seas fisheries. [1]
• Budget 2025-26: It announced an enabling framework for sustainable harnessing of fisheries in the Indian EEZ and the High Seas, with a special focus on A&N and Lakshadweep. [5]
• 04 Nov 2025: The Rules for "Sustainable Harnessing of Fisheries in the EEZ" were notified. [7]

3. Background & Evolution

• Budget 2019-20: PMMSY was first announced. [4]
• 20 May 2020: The Cabinet approved PMMSY with ₹20,050 crore, then the highest investment ever in the fisheries sector. [3]
• 10 Sep 2020: The PM launched PMMSY as part of the AatmaNirbhar Bharat COVID-19 relief package. [4]
• Original period: FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25, in all States and UTs. [3]
• 29 Oct 2024: The Department of Fisheries notified the Tuna Cluster in A&N under PMMSY. [2]
• Nov 2024: An investors' meet in the islands drew tuna-technology, seaweed and infrastructure investors. [2]
• Lakshadweep: Notified as a Seaweed Cluster under PMMSY. [2][5]
• Feb 2025: The Budget 2025-26 EEZ/High Seas framework was announced. [5]
• 04 Nov 2025: The EEZ Rules were notified. [7]
• High Seas: The Guidelines for Sustainable Harnessing of Fisheries in the High Seas by Indian-Flagged Fishing Vessels, 2025 were notified. [7]
• Letter of Authorisation (LoA): The Vice President launched the LoA for High Seas fishing, together with the Odisha Deep Sea Fishing Mission document. [8]
• 10 Nov 2026: The island fisheries strategy was released. [1]

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact
Nodal ministry	Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (Department of Fisheries) [1][2]
Flagship scheme	PMMSY, outlay ₹20,050 crore [3]
PMMSY funding split	Centre ₹9,407 cr; States ₹4,880 cr; beneficiaries ₹5,763 cr [3]
PMMSY allocation to islands	A&N ₹218 crore; Lakshadweep ₹175 crore [1]
A&N EEZ	6.60 lakh sq km (about 1/3 of India's EEZ); fisheries potential 1.48 lakh tonnes [5]
Lakshadweep EEZ	4 lakh sq km (about 17% of India's EEZ); potential about 1 lakh tonnes [5]
Combined share of EEZ (per the strategy)	Nearly 40% [1]
Untapped potential in the islands	About 2.5 lakh tonnes [5]
India's marine fisheries potential in the EEZ	58.6 lakh MT [1]
A&N tuna potential	About 60,000 MT under-exploited; a later estimate is 64,500 MT (oceanic + neritic tuna) [2]
A&N Tuna Cluster projects	₹58.91 crore total; central share ₹31.48 crore [2]
Lakshadweep tuna plan	Five-year plan to double tuna output to 50,000 tonnes [1]
Lakshadweep ornamental species	Over 300 reef-associated species [1]
Tuna species targeted	Yellowfin, Skipjack, Bigeye [1]
Selective fishing methods	Hook and line; pole and line (Lakshadweep's traditional fishery) [1]
Export body	MPEDA, with a stronger presence in A&N to allow direct exports [1]
Fishing harbour	Smart & Integrated Fishing Harbour, Mayabunder (A&N), ₹199.24 crore [9]
Access to EEZ fishing	Access Pass, free, through the ReALCRaft portal. Needed for mechanised and large motorised vessels; foreign vessels are not eligible [7]
Budget 2025-26 customs duty cuts	Surimi (frozen fish paste) 30% → 5%; fish hydrolysate 15% → 5% [5][6]

Key terms

• EEZ: The maritime zone under national jurisdiction where India has rights over marine resources. [1]
• High Seas: The waters beyond the EEZ. [1]
• Cluster approach: Infrastructure, finance and market links for one commodity are concentrated in one place, to get economies of scale and higher incomes. [1][2]
• Capture fisheries vs mariculture/seaweed cultivation: Capture fisheries harvest wild stock; mariculture and seaweed cultivation are farmed. [1]

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Economic

• The policy moves from production to value creation. Processing, cold chains and canning cut post-harvest losses and raise incomes. [1]
• The islands offer about 2.5 lakh tonnes of untapped potential. Lower duties on surimi and fish hydrolysate help processing and exports. [5][6]
• Seaweed has wide uses: food, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and bio-industrial products. It makes incomes less dependent on wild-caught tuna. [1]

Environmental

• Pole-and-line and hook-and-line fishing target the species wanted and keep bycatch low. Lakshadweep's traditional pole-and-line fishery is described as ecologically sound. [1]
• Ornamental fisheries need regulated, conservation-based collection of reef species. Lakshadweep has more than 300 such species. [1]
• Success depends on balancing production growth with ecological safeguards. [1]

Geopolitical / Strategic

• The two island groups extend India's presence across the Arabian Sea (Lakshadweep) and the Bay of Bengal (A&N). [1]
• Foreign vessels cannot get the EEZ Access Pass, which keeps the resource for Indian fishers. [7]
• Indian-flagged vessels now have a legal route to fish the High Seas through the 2025 Guidelines and the LoA. [7][8]

Social

• Gains will leak to outsiders unless island communities and local enterprises take part in the value chains. [1]
• Seaweed farming and ornamental fisheries are extra livelihoods for small-scale coastal households. [1]

Scientific / Technological

• Planned tools include fish aggregating devices and on-board processing and freezing on tuna vessels. [1][5]
• Seaweed farming needs seed banks and hatcheries. [1]

Administrative

• Both territories are UTs, so the Centre funds the clusters directly through PMMSY. Funding has gone to proposals from the A&N Administration. [2]
• Access Passes are issued online through ReALCRaft, which makes regulation digital. [7]

6. Recent Developments (last 12-18 months)

• Feb 2025: Budget 2025-26 announced the EEZ/High Seas framework, the focus on the islands and the customs duty cuts. [5][6]
• 04 Nov 2025: The EEZ Rules were notified. [7]
• Nov 2025 onwards: The EEZ Access Pass was launched nationally through ReALCRaft. [7]
• 2025 Guidelines for High Seas fishing by Indian-flagged vessels were notified. [7]
• High Seas LoA: The Vice President launched it along with the Odisha Deep Sea Fishing Mission document. [8]
• Mayabunder: A ₹199.24 crore smart fishing harbour was approved in A&N. [9]
• 10 Nov 2026: The island fisheries strategy was released. It includes the ₹218 crore and ₹175 crore PMMSY allocations, the 50,000-tonne tuna target and MPEDA's stronger presence in A&N. [1]

7. Prelims Hooks

• The A&N Tuna Cluster was notified under PMMSY on 29 Oct 2024. [2]
• Lakshadweep is notified as a Seaweed Cluster under PMMSY, not a Tuna Cluster. [2][5]
• The A&N EEZ is 6.60 lakh sq km, about one-third of India's EEZ. [5]
• The Lakshadweep EEZ is 4 lakh sq km, about 17% of India's EEZ. [5]
• India's estimated marine fisheries potential in the EEZ is 58.6 lakh MT. [1]
• PMMSY outlay is ₹20,050 crore; the Cabinet approved it on 20 May 2020. [3]
• PMMSY was launched on 10 Sep 2020 as part of the AatmaNirbhar Bharat package. [4]
• PMMSY was first announced in the Union Budget 2019-20. [4]
• PMMSY allocations: A&N ₹218 crore; Lakshadweep ₹175 crore. [1]
• Lakshadweep's five-year plan aims to double tuna production to 50,000 tonnes. [1]
• Budget 2025-26 cut the customs duty on surimi from 30% to 5%. [6]
• The EEZ Rules were notified on 04 Nov 2025. The Access Pass is free through ReALCRaft, and foreign vessels are not eligible. [7]
• Lakshadweep's traditional tuna fishing method is pole and line. [1]
• The Smart & Integrated Fishing Harbour is at Mayabunder, A&N (₹199.24 crore). [9]

8. Why Doubling Tuna Catch Runs Into a Shared, Overfished Stock

• Yellowfin tuna is already overfished across the Indian Ocean
• The note lists yellowfin as a target species, and Lakshadweep plans to take its tuna catch to 50,000 tonnes [1].
• The IOTC (Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, the regional body that manages tuna for all countries fishing these waters) has found yellowfin to be overfished and subject to overfishing [11].

• Overfished means too few fish are left. Subject to overfishing means fish are still being caught faster than they can breed back.

• Tuna does not stay inside India's EEZ

• Tuna migrate. The note calls this the islands' advantage, because they sit near the migration routes [1].
• The same migration means one stock is shared by many countries. A fish India leaves in the water can be caught by another fleet.

• So "untapped potential" inside the EEZ (about 2.5 lakh tonnes for the islands [5]) does not mean the fish are spare across the whole ocean.

• IOTC catch cuts have been cancelled out by countries that were not covered

• Under the IOTC rebuilding plan, members whose 2014 yellowfin catch was above 5,000 tonnes had to cut it by 21% [11].
• Some fleets did cut. But countries that were exempt, or did not keep to their limits, caught more. Total yellowfin catch in 2018 was about 9% higher than in 2014/15 [11].

• Why this matters for India: a large new tuna push from a coastal state is exactly the kind of growth that undoes the rebuilding plan, and other IOTC members can point to it.

• IOTC now asks for voluntary restraint, not just quotas

• From 2024, members are encouraged to keep their tuna vessels out of the IOTC area for at least 31 days in a row, or to make extra voluntary cuts in yellowfin catch [12].
• India's tuna target says nothing on how it fits these measures [1].

9. Why the Reef Is the Weak Link in Lakshadweep's Tuna Plan

• Pole-and-line fishing depends on the reef for its bait
• Pole and line is praised as low-bycatch (few unwanted fish caught by mistake) [1].
• But it needs live bait, small fish caught on the reef. In Lakshadweep, the reefs supply the live bait that the commercial tuna fishery is built on [13].

• So doubling tuna by pole and line means more bait taken from the same reefs. The method is kind to tuna stocks, but it puts more pressure on the reef.

• The same reefs are already under heat stress

• CMFRI scientists found that many hard coral species in Lakshadweep had bleached badly after long marine heatwaves that started in late October 2023 [14].
• Heat stress went above 4 °C-weeks on the Degree Heating Week scale (a measure of how much extra heat corals have built up over time) [14].

• Bleached coral holds fewer reef fish, so there is less bait and less of the reef species the ornamental fishery wants.

• Three uses, one reef

• Bait fish for tuna, more than 300 ornamental species [1], and food for islanders in the monsoon, when reefs act as a safety net [13]. All three come from the same reef.
• The strategy treats tuna, seaweed and ornamental fish as separate income streams [1]. Ecologically, they all draw on one stressed reef system.

10. Boats Sanctioned Are Not Boats at Sea

• The deep-sea vessel record on the mainland is a warning
• Under PMMSY, the Department of Fisheries sanctioned 50 deep-sea fishing vessels for Andhra Pradesh [15].
• The State reports that only 6 of them are operating [15].

• The project cost was ₹6,000 lakh, with ₹1,526.40 lakh as central help [15]. Most of that money is tied up in vessels that are not fishing.

• Why this matters for the islands

• The island plan depends on fishing far out at sea: on-board freezing, tuna vessels, and the Mayabunder harbour [1][9].
• If the vessels do not reach the water, the harbour, cold chain and MPEDA export links have no catch to handle.
• The note's figures are allocations (₹218 crore and ₹175 crore) [1]. Allocations are not outcomes. Aspirants should judge the scheme by vessels operating and tonnes landed, not by money sanctioned.

11. What Should Follow, and Who Should Do It

• Department of Fisheries: link the tuna target to IOTC rules
• The 50,000-tonne target [1] should say how much of it is yellowfin, which is overfished, and how much is skipjack.

• India could adopt the IOTC's voluntary 31-day closure or extra yellowfin cuts [12]. That would show India is growing tuna fishing responsibly, which also helps with export buyers.

• Use the Access Pass system to count the catch

• Every mechanised vessel fishing in the EEZ now needs a pass through ReALCRaft [7].

• The same system could ask for catch reports. That would give India data to defend its share at the IOTC.

• Lakshadweep Administration and CMFRI: watch bait and reef health before expanding

• Bleaching is already being recorded [14]. Before pole-and-line effort goes up, bait-fish stocks should be checked, and ornamental collection limits should be set using the same reef surveys.

• Pay out PMMSY money only when vessels actually fish

• The Andhra Pradesh gap of 50 sanctioned against 6 operating [15] shows that sanctions alone mislead.
• Later instalments for the A&N Tuna Cluster could be tied to vessels at sea and catch landed, not to approvals.

12. Anchors for Answers

• Data: IOTC members with a 2014 yellowfin catch above 5,000 t had to cut it by 21%, yet total yellowfin catch in 2018 was about 9% above 2014/15 levels [11]
• Data: 50 deep-sea fishing vessels sanctioned for Andhra Pradesh under PMMSY; only 6 operating [15]
• Data: Lakshadweep reefs under heat stress above 4 °C-weeks (Degree Heating Week) after marine heatwaves from late October 2023 [14]
• Law/Case: IOTC Resolution 21/01 (interim plan to rebuild yellowfin) [11]; IOTC Resolution 23/03 (voluntary 31-day closure) [12]; EEZ Rules, 04 Nov 2025 [7]
• Comparison: IOTC experience: cuts by some fleets were cancelled out by exempt countries catching more. This is why a shared tuna stock needs restraint from coastal states too [11]
• Scheme: PMMSY deep-sea vessel component. The gap between sanctions and vessels operating is the test for the A&N Tuna Cluster [15][2]

13. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Economic development, Blue Economy, food processing (scope, location, upstream and downstream links), infrastructure, and conservation and biodiversity.
• GS-I: Distribution of key natural resources (ocean resources) and the importance of island geography.
• GS-II: Government policies and their design and implementation (PMMSY, the cluster approach, UT administration).
• Possible question stems: 1. "The island territories hold the key to India's Blue Economy ambitions." Discuss with reference to the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands. 2. Examine how the move from 'production to value creation' in marine fisheries can be squared with ecological sustainability in fragile island ecosystems. 3. 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.

14. Related Topics to Study Next

• UNCLOS and maritime zones (territorial sea, contiguous zone, EEZ, High Seas): the legal basis for the EEZ and High Seas distinction.
• BBNJ (High Seas Treaty): international rules on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, which matter for High Seas fishing.
• Fish aggregating devices and IOTC tuna management: the regional rules that cover Indian Ocean tuna stocks.
• Coral reef ecology and Lakshadweep conservation: the limits on ornamental fisheries and seaweed farming.
• Great Nicobar Project: another strategic and ecological debate about the same islands.
• Deep sea fishing and Resource-Specific Fishing Vessels: the Budget 2025-26 push that these clusters build on. [5]
• Other PMMSY clusters (for example, the Organic Fisheries Cluster in Sikkim): they show how the cluster model is applied elsewhere. [10]
• MPEDA and India's seafood exports: the export side of the value-creation strategy.

15. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Exclusive economic zone (Geography): The islands' large EEZ share and the 2025 EEZ Rules are the core of the strategy.
• Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (Economy): PMMSY funds the tuna and seaweed clusters and the island allocations of ₹218 crore and ₹175 crore.
• Blue economy (Economy): The whole strategy is framed as India's Blue Economy push, using ocean resources sustainably.
• Fisheries (Economy): Gives the basics of capture and farmed fisheries, which the island tuna, seaweed and ornamental plans build on.
• Lakshadweep Islands (Geography): Lakshadweep is the seaweed cluster and pole-and-line tuna base, so its geography matters.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Geography): A&N hosts the Tuna Cluster, the Mayabunder harbour and about one-third of India's EEZ.
• Overfishing (Geography): Yellowfin is already overfished, so doubling tuna catch risks depleting a shared stock.
• Coral reef (Geography): Lakshadweep's tuna bait and ornamental fish depend on reefs, which limits how far the plan can expand.
• Coral bleaching (Geography): Marine heatwaves are bleaching Lakshadweep's corals, threatening the reef fish the plan relies on.
• Post-harvest losses (Economy): Cold chains and processing aim to cut post-harvest losses and raise fishers' incomes.
• Territorial sea (Geography): Helps place the EEZ among India's other maritime zones such as the contiguous zone.
• BBNJ Agreement (Geography): Governs biodiversity on the High Seas, where Indian vessels can now fish.
• Economies of scale (Economy): The cluster approach concentrates facilities in one place to cut costs and raise incomes.
• Great Nicobar Project (Geography): Another strategic and ecological debate over the same Andaman and Nicobar islands.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Mixing up the clusters: The Tuna Cluster is in A&N and the Seaweed Cluster is in Lakshadweep, even though Lakshadweep is better known for tuna (pole and line). [1][2]
• EEZ share figures: The strategy says "nearly 40%". The Budget-linked release puts A&N at about one-third and Lakshadweep at 17%, which adds up to about half. Quote the figure with its source, and use the individual figures (6.60 lakh and 4 lakh sq km) when you can. [1][5]
• PMMSY dates: It was approved in May 2020, launched in Sep 2020 and first announced in Budget 2019-20. It is not a 2019 launch. [3][4]
• Ministry: The implementing body is the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying. It is not MoEFCC, and not the Ministry of Earth Sciences, which runs the Deep Ocean Mission. MPEDA comes under the Commerce Ministry. [1]
• Access Pass: It is free and not available to foreign vessels. Aspirants often assume it is a paid licence open to joint ventures. [7]