Marine fisheries in India: Opportunities, challenges, and the need for climate-resilient management

Rajesh, K M (2026) Marine fisheries in India: Opportunities, challenges, and the need for climate-resilient management. Journal of Environmental Biology, 47 (3). pp. 1-2. ISSN 2394-0379

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Abstract

In India, the marine fisheries sector has played a vital role in food security, the coastal livelihoods, and the broader national economy for generations. India has a long coastline (8,118 km, recently revised as 11,098.81 km, based on high-resolution geospatial 2 mapping) and an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (approximately 2.02 million km ). The livelihoods of millions of people depend on this coastline, either directly through fishing or indirectly for exports, logistics, and tourism. In recent years, overall fisheries output has increased due to the rapid growth of inland aquaculture (Zacharia et al., 2025), but marine fish production has remained relatively stable (3.5-4.0 million tonnes annually). Although the pattern is stable, marine capture fisheries appear to be approaching their ecological limits of exploitation, and several stocks already seem to be exploited or overexploited. This current situation alarms the need for ecologically balanced, adaptive management.

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