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The 5th Marine Fisheries Census (MFC), which will document every marine fisher family, fisher village, fishing craft and gear, as well as infrastructure facilities associated with fishing harbours and fish landing centres across the country, began on April 28, 2025.
For the first time, the census will have the feature of real-time validation because it will be done through a geo-referenced, app-based digital system that can record summary pictures of fishing villages based on primary and secondary sources. For the purpose of digital-based data collection, a mobile application called ‘VyAS-NAV’ has been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CMFRI), which is the nodal agency for implementing the census.
The Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying announced the beginning of the census and launched the application at the Coastal State Fisheries Meet 2025 held on April 28. The MFC 2025 will cover a 1.2 million fisher households in coastal states and Union territories (UT).
Finer details of fishers, such as their demographic and socio-economic status, alternative livelihood options, and how and where government schemes can influence their status, will be collected through the digital platform.
The app will be used by supervisors for field verification of fishing villages, fish landing centres and fishing harbours. “This is a foundational step towards ensuring comprehensive coverage and accuracy of the census frame,” the ministry said.
Around 3,500 villages will be covered in this exercise at various points in time. The village enumeration will be finalised by May-June, while family-level data and other facilities will be covered during November-December, which will be done by enumerators from the village, with help from the fishing community.
The entire operation will be completed by December 2025, the ministry said in a statement.
The last such census was done in 2016, according to which there were 3,477 fishing villages in 13 coastal states and UTs in India.
The Centre also unveiled the “first-ever aquaculture insurance scheme” during the meeting. It will be under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY), a sub-scheme launched under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). This, the ministry said, was aimed towards mitigating risks and providing financial security to marginalised farmers.
Eligible beneficiaries will include registered aquafarmers, firms, companies, societies, cooperatives, fish farmer-producer organisations and other entities involved in the fisheries value chain as identified by the Department of Fisheries.
Farmers can choose between basic insurance, which covers losses from natural calamities and other parametric risks, and the comprehensive insurance, which includes basic insurance and disease coverage. The insurance covers one crop cycle and more details on the premium and the coverage amount have not been made public yet.
Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh also inaugurated projects for seven coastal states and UTs, with a total outlay of Rs 255 crore under PMMSY.