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🔆 CMLRE Releases National Report on Deep-Sea & Distant-Water Fishery Resources of India’s EEZ

📍 Why in News?
✅ The Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, released a comprehensive national assessment of India’s deep-sea and distant-water fishery resources.
✅ The report synthesises over four decades of oceanographic data, including 400+ cruises of FORV Sagar Sampada, providing a scientific foundation for sustainable exploitation of India’s Blue Economy.

📍 India’s Maritime Resource Base
✅ India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers approximately 2.02 million sq km; total maritime jurisdiction including the continental shelf is around 2.37 million sq km.
✅ Under UNCLOS, 1982, a coastal State has sovereign rights over living and non-living resources within its EEZ extending up to 200 nautical miles from baselines.

📍 Key Areas Surveyed
✅ Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Lakshadweep waters, Andaman Sea and Southern Ocean were covered by the research programme.
✅ Important biodiversity-rich areas include Kollam Bank, Angria Bank, Off-Mangalore Deep-Sea Slope, Terrace off Trivandrum and Lakshadweep & Andaman–Nicobar Islands.

📍 Mesopelagic “Twilight Zone”
✅ The 200–1,000 m depth zone contains dense communities of lanternfishes and deep-sea shrimps.
✅ Their vertical migration contributes to the biological carbon pump, transferring carbon from surface waters to deeper ocean layers.
✅ This makes the zone important not only for fisheries but also for global climate regulation.

📍 Deep-Sea & Distant-Water Resources
✅ Significant deep-sea resources identified include shrimps, perches, scombroids, flatfishes and eels.
✅ High-value distant-water species include tunas, billfishes, sharks, oceanic squids and Antarctic krill.
✅ The findings could support expansion of India’s distant-water fishing capacity, subject to sustainability and international obligations.

📍 Technology for Sustainable Fisheries
✅ The report advocates integration of fisheries acoustics, environmental DNA (eDNA), autonomous observing platforms, satellite remote sensing, AI and ecosystem modelling.
✅ These technologies can improve resource assessment, biodiversity monitoring and marine spatial planning.

📍 Blue Economy Opportunities
✅ Scientific resource mapping can support sustainable fisheries, employment, food security and maritime economic growth.
✅ It can strengthen India’s capabilities in ocean science, marine biotechnology and resource management.
✅ Better knowledge of marine ecosystems can help balance economic utilisation with conservation.

📍 Key Challenges
✅ Deep-sea exploitation must not undermine the biological carbon pump and ecologically sensitive habitats.
✅ Expansion of distant-water fishing requires compliance with UNCLOS and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs).
✅ Access to distant fishing grounds may require international agreements and diplomatic cooperation.
✅ Focus on deep-sea resources should not divert attention from the depletion of near-shore resources and livelihoods of small-scale coastal fishers.
✅ Identification of resources does not automatically mean they can be commercially exploited; appropriate vessels, ports, fisheries infrastructure and regulatory frameworks are also required.

📍 Key Institutions & Terms
✅ CMLRE: Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology, Kochi, under MoES.
✅ FORV Sagar Sampada: India’s flagship Fishery and Oceanographic Research Vessel.
✅ Deep Ocean Mission: Launched in 2021; focuses on deep-sea exploration, ocean biology and climate research.
✅ eDNA: Genetic material shed by organisms into their environment, enabling species detection without direct sampling.
✅ SDG 14: Life Below Water — conservation and sustainable use of oceans and marine resources.

📌 Case Study / Example
✅ FORV Sagar Sampada & Marine Living Resources Programme: More than 400 oceanographic cruises and decades of systematic surveys have enabled India to build a scientific database of deep-sea and distant-water resources.
🎯 Mains Application:India’s experience shows how long-term scientific observation can convert the Blue Economy from a resource-extraction agenda into an evidence-based model of sustainable marine governance.

📍 Way Forward
✅ Adopt ecosystem-based fisheries management rather than focusing solely on maximum extraction.
✅ Use marine spatial planning to identify zones for conservation, fishing and other economic activities.
✅ Integrate scientific monitoring with AI, eDNA and autonomous observation systems.
✅ Ensure deep-sea development remains aligned with UNCLOS, SDG 14 and conservation commitments.
✅ Balance emerging deep-sea opportunities with the livelihood security of India’s coastal fishing communities.

✎ MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION
India’s Blue Economy ambitions rest on scientific understanding of its maritime resources. In light of CMLRE’s comprehensive national report on deep-sea and distant-water fishery resources, evaluate the opportunities and challenges in harnessing India’s EEZ for sustainable economic growth, with reference to relevant international legal frameworks.

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