New Delhi/ Mangaluru: India has begun a comprehensive georeferencing and validation of marine fishing villages across its coastline as part of the preparatory phase for the 5th Marine Fisheries Census (MFC-2025).

The initiative, spearheaded by the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, is being implemented by the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) as the nodal agency. Conducted under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, the exercise aims to establish an accurate frame of marine fishing villages in 13 coastal States and Union Territories.

Using VyAS-NAV, a custom mobile app developed by CMFRI, 108 officials from CMFRI and the Fishery Survey of India will visit over 3,500 marine villages over the next two weeks to collect real-time, geo-referenced data.

“This groundwork is critical to ensure a reliable framework for the upcoming household enumeration,” said Neetu Kumari Prasad, IAS, Joint Secretary in the Department of Fisheries.

The full census, scheduled for November–December 2025, will cover around 1.2 million fisher households. The validation teams, working in collaboration with state fisheries departments, will assess each village’s dependence on marine fishing, estimate household counts, and identify local enumerators for the next phase.

Dr. Grinson George, Director of CMFRI, said the initiative will enable policy makers to address infrastructure gaps and socio-economic challenges, promoting sustainable development of India’s marine fishing sector.