India is exploring the commercial exploitation of deep-sea marine resources within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in an attempt better utilize them and ease pressure on its heavily exploited coastal waters, according to local media reports.
To determine the plan’s feasibility, an ongoing one-year study, funded by the nation’s National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) jointly led by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), is underway, with participation from commercial trawling firms and fishers.
The main aim of the research is to provide an estimate of the unutilized potential of mesopelagic resources, or fish and other organisms inhabiting waters approximately 200 to 1,000 meters deep; determine the feasibility of large-scale harvesting; and develop sustainable exploitation methods. Mesopelagic resources are among the most abundant marine resources in the world that largely remain untapped and can be used to produce fishmeal, nutraceuticals, and bioactive compounds, The Hindu Businessline reported.
Besides the financial gains available by employing such a strategy, scientists involved in the research also believe that fishing for mesopelagic species can ease the burden on coastal and pelagic fisheries, enabling more balanced marine resource management.
“With global concerns over overfishing of commercially important species used for fishmeal production, this initiative focuses on exploring alternative and sustainable sources, reducing the dependency on traditional fish stocks,” CMFRI Director Grinson George said, per The Hindu Businessline.
In a workshop on 5 July, George said CMFRI had identified an estimated 1.7 million metric tons (MT) of mesopelagic fish available in Indian waters, in addition to other deep-sea species, including 630,000 MT of oceanic squid, 213,000 MT of oceanic tuna, 33,000 MT of tuna-like fish, and 300,000 MT of ribbonfish, The Hindu newspaper reported.
“If left unharvested by India, these transboundary resources are likely to be exploited by other nations,” George said.
Currently, Indian fishing vessels typically operate at depths of up to 100 meters, with approximately 90 percent of the catch coming from waters within 50 meters from the surface.
George said the Indian government is helping to modernize the country’s fishing fleet to exploit deeper resources through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) strategy – a scheme designed to promote ecological balance, economic viability, and social inclusion in the nation’s fisheries sector, The Hindu reported.
As for where the nation might start in its goals to exploit deeper sea resources, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hinted at more detailed plans in a speech before India’s Parliament earlier this year.
She said the central government will unlock untapped marine potential by establishing a framework to ensure sustainable fishery production in its EEZ and on the High Seas, particularly focusing on the waters surrounding the Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands, spanning approximately 1 million square kilometers.
In the 2023-24 financial year, India produced about 18.4 million MT of fish, accounting for 8 percent of global production and ranking second only to China, according to the Indian Department of Fisheries’ Annual Report for 2024-25. During the same period, the country exported approximately 1.78 million MT of seafood worth INR 605 billion (USD 7.38 billion, EUR 6.31 billion), which was up nearly 3 percent year over year.
For the 2025-26 financial year, the Indian government has allocated a record budget for the fisheries sector at over INR 27 billion (USD 315 million, EUR 269 million), which is an increase of 3.3 percent from a year earlier, according to a press release from the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau.
