Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE) Releases National Report on Deep-Sea and Distant-Water Fishery Resources in Indian EEZ

Key facts

• The Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE) released the National Report on Deep-Sea and Distant-Water Fishery Resources of the Indian EEZ during its Silver Jubilee celebrations.
• The report compiles nearly four decades of oceanographic research and three decades of systematic surveys across India's 2.37 million square kilometre Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
• The findings are based on over 400 oceanographic cruises conducted since the early 1990s under the Marine Living Resources Programme (MLRP) using the research vessel FORV Sagar Sampada.
• The report details mesopelagic resources (200–1000 metres) including lanternfishes, deep-sea shrimps, and cephalopods, and their role in the ocean's biological carbon pump.
• It assesses deep-sea demersal resources on the continental slope beyond 200 metres, identifying underexploited stocks of deep-sea shrimps, perches, scombroids, flatfishes, and eels.
• The report compiles data on distant-water fisheries such as tunas, billfishes, sharks, oceanic squids, and Antarctic krill.
• It identifies marine biodiversity hotspots including Kollam Bank, Angria Bank, the deep-sea slope terrace off Trivandrum, and the Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar Islands.
• The report integrates modern technologies like fisheries acoustics, environmental DNA (eDNA), autonomous observing platforms, satellite observations, AI, and ecosystem modelling for marine spatial planning.
• The publication supports India's Vision 2047 and UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water).