First fully digitised National Marine Fisheries Census 2025 launched

Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying First fully digitised National Marine Fisheries Census 2025 launched Massive nationwide 45-day exercise will cover 1.2 million fisher households in 4000 villages across India Union Minister George Kurian pushes for NFDP registration of fishers to avail benefits Posted On: 31 OCT 2025 5:20PM by PIB Thiruvananthpuram Kochi: Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri George Kurian on Friday officially launched the household enumeration phase of the National Marine Fisheries Census (MFC) 2025 at the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). Launching the massive nationwide exercise, the Minister urged all officers and enumerators participating in the Census to ensure that all fishermen and fish workers are registered on the National Fisheries Digital Platform (NFDP). “This is a mandatory requirement to access benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY). Only fishermen and fish farmers who are registered on the portal will be eligible to receive financial assistance from the Central government”, he said, adding that registration could be conveniently carried out through Common Service Centres (CSCs). Describing the Marine Fisheries Census as a landmark in India’s march towards digital and data-driven fisheries governance, Shri Kurian said: “This edition marks a major technological shift as the first fully digitised data collection in the history of Indian fisheries”. Live monitoring Following the official launch, the live field data collection from Maharashtra and Kerala was displayed on the screen at the venue,showcasing the real-time digital data capture and central monitoring of the enumeration process using two specially designed mobile applications — VyAS Bharat and VyAS Sutra. These were developed by CMFRI to enable real-time data collection, geo-referencing, and instant verification. These digital tools will ensure seamless data flow from the field to central servers, enhancing accuracy, transparency, and efficiency while reducing processing time. The 45-day nationwide enumeration will be carried out from November 3 to December 18, with the participation of thousands of trained field staff, covering over 1.2 million fisher households across 4,000 marine fishing villages in nine coastal states and four union territories. The Census is coordinated by the Department of Fisheries (DoF) of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) with CMFRI as the nodal agency and Fishery Survey of India (FSI) as the operational partner. Shri George Kurian called upon all state fisheries departments, local bodies, and community organisations to extend full cooperation to make the ‘Smart Census, Smarter Fisheries’ initiative a success. Highlighting the Government’s efforts for improving the marine fisheries, the Minister said that the government is actively installing transponders and turtle excluder devices free of cost for the benefit of fishermen. Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Fisheries Dr Ajay Srivastava presided over the function. Union Fisheries Secretary Dr Abhilaksh Likhi delivered a special address. Union Fisheries Joint Secretary Neetu Kumari Prasad, ICAR Assistant Director General Dr Shubdeep Ghosh, CMFRI Director Dr Grinson George, CIFT Director Dr George Ninan, FSI Director General Dr Sreenath K R, Marine Census Principal Investigator Dr J Jaysankar, Dr Somy Kuriakose and Dr C Ramachandran spoke on the occasion. The event was followed by a national workshop, which involved presentations from various coastal states and interaction with fishermen representatives. LPSS/SKY ****(Release ID: 2184705) Visitor Counter : 305 Read this release in: Urdu , ही , Marathi , Malayalam