Marine Fisheries Census 2025 Goes Fully Digital; VYAS Apps to Enable Real-Time, Geo-Referenced Data Collection
SDG 14: Life Below Water | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
Institutions: Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
The Department of Fisheries has launched the fifth edition of the Marine Fisheries Census (MFC 2025) — a coast-wide enumeration covering approx. 1.2 million fisher households in 5,000 villages across 13 coastal States and Union Territories (including Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep).
For the first time, the census will be entirely paperless and digital, using multilingual Android apps — VYAS-NAV, VYAS-BHARAT, and VYAS-SUTRA — coupled with drone-based aerial enumeration of fishing craft during trawl-ban periods.
The enumeration runs from 3 November to 18 December 2025 and aims to produce a geo-referenced, high-granularity database including livelihoods, credit status, fisheries infrastructure, and vulnerabilities (e.g., insurance status, pandemic impact).
Minister of State George Kurian urged fishers and fish-farmers to register on the National Fisheries Database Portal (NFDP) to benefit from central schemes and flagged the free deployment of transponders and turtle-excluder devices.
The shift to a fully digital, geo-tagged census strengthens India’s evidence-base for targeted fisheries policy and disaster-resilient livelihoods, supporting adaptation to climate impacts in marine ecosystems. It aligns with India’s goals under the Blue Economy, ecosystem-based fisheries management and digital transformation of rural sectors.
What are VYAS Apps?→ The VYAS apps are digital data-collection tools developed by the Department of Fisheries for the Marine Fisheries Census 2025. They replace paper-based enumeration, allowing field teams to record fisher households, boats, gear, and infrastructure directly on mobile devices.
The apps are multilingual and geo-enabled, helping capture location-tagged socio-economic and fisheries data in real time. Different versions support household surveys, vessel and gear mapping, and field-staff coordination — collectively improving speed, accuracy, and transparency in fisheries statistics.
What is the Blue Economy?→ The blue economy refers to the sustainable use of ocean and coastal resources for economic growth, livelihoods, and ecosystem health. It covers fisheries, aquaculture, shipping, ports, tourism, offshore renewable energy, marine biotechnology and coastal infrastructure — while ensuring that marine ecosystems remain healthy and resilient.
For India, the blue economy is central to coastal livelihoods, food security, maritime trade, and climate adaptation, and aligns with the Vision of a Blue Economy Policy Framework and the PM-Matsya Sampada Yojana.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How can the Department of Fisheries ensure that the rich, geo-referenced data from MFC 2025 is translated into actionable policy levers for fisher-welfare, climate-resilience, coastal infrastructure investment and inclusive access to the NFDP?
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