National Report on Deep-Sea Fishery Resources in Indian EEZ

The Ministry of Earth Sciences releases the “National Report on Deep-Sea and Distant-Water Fishery Resources of the Indian EEZ.” The report consolidates nearly 4 decades of oceanographic research and data from over 400 scientific cruises across India’s 2.37 million square kilometer Exclusive Economic Zone.

National Report on Deep-Sea and Distant-Water Fishery Resources:

Dimension	Key Details
Programme under which data is collected	Data is collected under the Marine Living Resources Programme (MLRP).
Surveying vehicle and coverage	The report utilises the research vessel FORV Sagar Sampada to map species distributions and assess stock potential from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal to the Andaman Sea and Southern Ocean.
Mesopelagic resources assessment	The report highlights the vast biomass of lanternfishes (Myctophids), and states that their nightly vertical migrations drive the ocean's “biological carbon pump,” transferring carbon from surface waters to the deep ocean.
Deep-sea demersal stocks	The report identifies underexploited stocks along continental slopes beyond 200 meters depth, including deep-sea shrimps, perches, scombroids, flatfishes, and eels.
Protected hotspots mapped	The report maps vulnerable marine ecosystems requiring conservation, specifically highlighting Kollam Bank, Angria Bank, the off-Mangalore deep-sea slope, the terrace off Trivandrum, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman-Nicobar Islands.
Technological framework	The report integrates fisheries acoustics, environmental DNA (eDNA), autonomous observation platforms, satellite sensing, AI, and ecosystem modeling to support marine spatial planning.
National and global linkages	The report serves as a foundational scientific roadmap for India’s Vision 2047 Blue Economy pillar, while reinforcing commitments to UN SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and the UN Decade of Ocean Science.