Rights for Fishermen over Marine Resources
Rights for Fishermen over Marine Resources
Data on fishermen population in the country has been compiled in consultation with States/UTs Department of Fisheries and such data reveals that there are a total of 2,80,63,538 fishermen in the country. The state-wise details of the fishermen population are furnished as Annexure-I.
All the coastal State/Union Territories have already enacted their Marine Fishing Regulation Acts (MFRAs) / Marine Fishing Regulations to govern fishing activities within 12 nautical miles of territorial waters. The coastal States/UTs through these MFRAs have earmarked the zones/sea areas reserved for fishing only by the traditional fishermen using non-motorized and motorized fishing boats, wherein mechanized fishing vessels are not allowed to fish, e.g., Gujarat has reserved the area up to 9 nautical miles from the shore, Goa has reserved the area up to 2.7 nautical miles from the coast-line; Karnataka has reserved the area up to 3.23 nautical miles from the shore or up to 4 fathoms (whichever is farther) for traditional crafts; Tamil Nadu and Odisha have reserved the areas up to 5 nautical miles for traditional non-mechanized boats, and Andhra Pradesh has reserved the area upto 4.3 nautical miles from the shore for traditional crafts.
Annexure-I
State/UT-wise details of the fishermen population in the country
States/UTs
Fishermen Population
Andhra Pradesh
14,96,688
Arunachal Pradesh
24,015
Assam
25,24,106
Bihar
60,27,375
Chhattisgarh
2,20,355
Goa
10,545
Gujarat
5,58,691
Haryana
1,18,455
Himachal Pradesh
11,806
Jharkhand
1,40,897
Karnataka
9,74,277
Kerala
10,44,361
Madhya Pradesh
22,32,822
Maharashtra
15,18,228
Manipur
47,711
Meghalaya
16,567
Mizoram
6,289
Nagaland
7,958
Odisha
15,17,574
Punjab
7,591
Rajasthan
57,260
Sikkim
581
Tamil Nadu
12,83,751
Telangana
8,62,221
Tripura
7,761
Uttarakhand
8,352
Uttar Pradesh
39,00,005
West Bengal
32,36,261
A&N Islands
25,941
Chandigarh
524
Dadra & N. H. and Daman & Diu
40,106
Delhi
3,346
Jammu & Kashmir
17,396
Ladakh
22
Lakshadweep
6,518
Puducherry
1,07,272
All India
2,80,63,538
This information was given by the Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on 11th December 2024.