Why in the news?

• The launch of Marine Fisheries Census 2025 signifies a landmark step in achieving a fully digital and transformative shift in the nation’s fisheries enumeration process.

Digital Marine Fisheries Census 2025

• What is it?: The National Marine Fisheries Census (MFC) 2025 is India’s first fully digitized fisheries census, marking a historic shift from traditional paper-based methods to a comprehensive digital data collection system.
• Implementation: The census is conducted by the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, with CMFRI as the nodal agency and the Fishery Survey of India as the operational partner.
• Coverage:
  • The census covers approximately 1.2 million fisher households across around 5,000 marine fishing villages in 13 coastal states and Union Territories, including the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
  • It enumerates fishers, fishing crafts, gear, livelihood patterns, infrastructure like landing centers, harbors, markets, and processing plants.
• Technological Intervention:
  • Two mobile applications namely VyAS Bharat and VyAS Sutra developed by CMFRI facilitate real-time, geo-referenced data collection.
  • The digital platform ensures accurate, transparent, and efficient data gathering with instant verification during the enumeration.
  • The entire process is paperless, enhancing speed and minimizing errors.