Union Minister George Kurian launches marine fisheries census 2025

Kochi, Oct 31 (PTI) Union Minister George Kurian on Friday launched marine fisheries census 2025 and directed all fishermen as well as fish workers to register on a digital platform to avail financial benefits under central schemes.

According to an official statement, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying George Kurian has officially launched the household enumeration phase of the National Marine Fisheries Census (MFC) 2025. The launch event was held at the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in Kochi.

The 45-day nationwide enumeration will be carried out from November 3 to December 18, covering over 1.2 million fisher households across 4,000 marine fishing villages in nine coastal states and four union territories.

Kurian described the marine fisheries census as a landmark in India's march towards digital and data-driven fisheries governance.

"This edition marks a major technological shift as the first fully digitised data collection in the history of Indian fisheries," he added.

The minister asked 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.

The registration could be conveniently carried out through Common Service Centres (CSCs).

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.

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. PTI MJH MJH SHW