The Marine Fisheries Census 2025 focuses on the exhaustive, accurate, and timely documentation of every marine fisher family, fishing village, fishing craft and gear, along with infrastructure related to fishing harbours and fish landing centres across India
VyAS-NAV (village jetty appraisal navigator) was developed by the ICAR–Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), the nodal agency responsible for implementing the Marine Fisheries Census in nine coastal states. Pic/X
In a major preparatory step for India’s 5th Marine Fisheries Census (MFC 2025), a mobile application called VyAS-NAV has been launched to enable digital data collection with the aim of boosting transparency and efficiency.
Marking a shift from traditional methods to a geo-referenced, app-based digital system, the MFC 2025 will cover 1.2 million fisher households nationwide, ensuring transparency and real-time validation.
The mammoth exercise is being coordinated by the Department of Fisheries (DoF) under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, as part of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
Union Fisheries Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh launched the application during a meeting of State Fisheries Ministers from across coastal states, held in Mumbai on Monday.
In the meeting, Ranjan also reviewed progress and implementation of various schemes in the fisheries sector.
VyAS-NAV (Village jettY Appraisal NAVigator) was developed by the ICAR–Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), the nodal agency responsible for implementing the Marine Fisheries Census in nine coastal states.
The Marine Fisheries Census 2025 focuses on the exhaustive, accurate, and timely documentation of every marine fisher family, fishing village, fishing craft and gear, along with infrastructure related to fishing harbours and fish landing centres across India.
Unlike past censuses, customised mobile and tablet-based applications created by CMFRI will be used to collect data, aiming to reduce manual errors and accelerate compilation for policy-making purposes.
The VyAS-NAV app will be used by supervisors to verify fishing villages, fish landing centres, and harbours in the field. This foundational step ensures comprehensive coverage and accuracy in the census framework. The app allows recording of summary details of villages using both primary and secondary data sources. Supervisors include personnel from CMFRI, the Fishery Survey of India, and Fisheries Departments across coastal states.
The main census activity, scheduled for November–December 2025, will involve trained enumerators—preferably from local communities—visiting each marine fisher household with smart devices. This will follow a strong preparatory phase.
Emphasis will be placed on collecting detailed demographic and socio-economic data of fishers, their alternative livelihood options, and identifying how government schemes can enhance their living standards. This information will be gathered through a robust digital platform. Enumerators will be trained in digital data collection, and supervisors will validate village and infrastructure details using VyAS-NAV.
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