State approves ₹947-crore programme to boost fishing, proposes sops for fishers

The Matsyasampada Yojana is an integrated programme aimed at boosting fish production, strengthening infrastructure and expanding market opportunities across the coastal and inland regions of Maharashtra. It has six new state-level schemes, 19 district-level initiatives and revisions to three existing programmes

MUMBAI: Seeking to unlock the potential of the fishing sector and improving its ranking among the country’s fish-producing states, the Maharashtra government has given the nod to a ₹947-crore programme to increase the state’s annual fish production from the existing 700,000 tonnes to six million tonnes. Called the Matsyasampada Yojana (CM Fisheries Wealth Scheme), the scheme received CM Devendra Fadnavis’ assent in a cabinet meeting held last week.

Maharashtra has a 877.97-km coastline, with 173 fish landing centres and 526 marine fishing villages, supporting a marine fisher population of about 3,64,000 people. (AFP/Pic for representation)

The Matsyasampada Yojana is an integrated programme aimed at boosting fish production, strengthening infrastructure and expanding market opportunities across the coastal and inland regions of Maharashtra. It has six new state-level schemes, 19 district-level initiatives and revisions to three existing programmes.

Government data shows that marine fish production stood at 4,63,000 metric tonnes in 2024-25 while inland fisheries accounted for 2,69,000 metric tonnes, taking the total production to 7,34,000 metric tonnes. Fish exports have also shown consistent growth, reaching ₹7,343 crore in 2024-25, although the state ranked 11th in fish production nationally, prompting the state to introduce targeted measures to accelerate growth in the sector.

The fisheries department has identified the shortcomings resulting in poor production, and is taking steps to overcome them. Among these are illegal and unregulated fishing, poor infrastructure, inadequate cold chain and storage facilities, limited deep-sea fishing capability, climate change and a lack of modern training facilities. The presentation given to the state cabinet listed measures for these.

“Apart from the repair and modernisation of fish landing centres, jetties and fishing harbours, there are plans to establish fish markets in municipal areas, develop and modernise ice plants and cold storage networks, promote modern aquaculture practices, rejuvenate water bodies, and train fisherfolk and fish farmers by giving them modern technical knowledge,” it stated. “The scheme also offers mechanisation and modernisation of fishing operators and supporting marketing and measures like river ranching and biodiversity conservation.” Among other measures is a proposal to provide fish-selling e-autorickshaws with deep freezers costing ₹3.5 lakh each and grants of ₹25,000 to fish sellers to buy fishing equipment.

Maharashtra has a 877.97-km coastline, with 173 fish landing centres and 526 marine fishing villages, supporting a marine fisher population of about 3,64,000 people. The state also has significant inland fisheries resources, including 4,00,648 hectares of water bodies and more than 1,23,000 ponds.

“The scheme was chalked out based on the Viksit Maharashtra 2047 roadmap and after the central government’s budgetary allocation of ₹2,762 crore for 2026-27, the highest ever for the fisheries sector,” said an official from the fisheries department. “The aim, apart from improving Maharashtra’s ranking in fish production, is to increase the agriculture sector’s growth, currently at $55billion, to $700billion by 2047.”