Recently, the union Minister of State, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, launched the Marine Fisheries Census (MFC) 2025.

About National Marine Fisheries Census 2025
The National Marine Fisheries Census 2025 is India's fifth and first-ever fully digital, geo-referenced census of its marine fishing communities, infrastructure, and socio-economic indicators. It aims to create a comprehensive national database for evidence-based planning and effective implementation of welfare schemes. 
 
Key Details

• It is the fifth edition of the Marine Fisheries Census, covering all the 13 coastal States and Union Territories of India, including Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
• The census covers around 1.2 million fisher households across 5,000 marine fishing villages, 1,200+ landing centers, 50 fishing harbors, jetties, markets, and processing plants.
• The enumeration is scheduled over an extended period of 45 days (from November 3 to December 18, 2025).
• It is fully digital and paperless, employing a suite of custom-built multilingual Android applications developed by the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI): VyAS-NAV for validation of fishing villages and harbors, VyAS-BHARAT for household and infrastructure enumeration, and VyAS-SUTRA for real-time supervision and monitoring.
• Data collection is real-time, geo-referenced, eliminating manual errors and speeding up processing accuracy.
• The census scope is expanded to include detailed socio-economic data such as total family income, homeownership, outstanding liabilities, and sources of credit.
• It records data on vulnerabilities like insurance status, major losses or disabilities, COVID-19 socio-economic impact on fisher families, and benefits from schemes like PMMSY/PM-MKSSY.
• New schedules focus on institutional mapping of Fish Farmer Producer Organizations (FFPOs) and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for strengthening collectivization and the fisheries value chain.
• The census also incorporates technological innovations like drone-based aerial enumeration of fishing crafts during trawl ban periods at major harbors for neutral, verifiable data.
• This census aims to create the most granular, evidence-based national fisheries database to enable targeted welfare programs, climate-resilient policies, and inclusive development strategies fostering community-led growth and entrepreneurship among women and youth in coastal areas.

 Objectives
The census aims to build a comprehensive, geo-referenced national database of marine fisher families, vessels, and infrastructure. It will collect detailed socio-economic data on income, homeownership, liabilities, credit sources, insurance, and the impact of COVID-19. The census also seeks to map Fish Farmer Producer Organizations (FFPOs) and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to strengthen the value chain and provide data for refining government welfare programs and designing climate-resilient strategies. 

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