Marine fisheries census: household enumeration to be launched on Friday

A nationwide initiative to document the status of India’s marine fishing community will be officially launched on Friday (October 31, 2025), marking the beginning of household enumeration under the 5th Marine Fisheries Census (MFC-2025), according to a communication.

Union Minister of State for Fisheries George Kurian will launch the initiative and a national workshop at a function to be held at ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) here at 10 a.m. on Friday.

MFC-2025 will cover more than 1.2 million fisher households across India’s coastal States and Union Territories, providing crucial data for sustainable fisheries management and policy planning. It 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, it said.

Enumerators selected from the local fishing community will reach every marine fisherman household for a 45-day data collection exercise. The census, which is held every five years, collects detailed information on marine fishers, their households, fishing crafts and gears. Unlike previous editions, MFC-2025 is the first-ever fully digital and geo-referenced marine fisheries census, according to the release.