The Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has notified the Development of Tuna Cluster in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).
- The Andaman and Nicobar Islands offers a prime opportunity for fisheries development, with around 6.0 lakh square km of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) rich in under-exploited sea resources, particularly Tuna and Tuna like high valued species, estimated at 60,000 metric tons.
Other initiatives
- The Government of India has led the fisheries sector’s transformation through flagship initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), Fisheries and Acquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) and the Blue Revolution.
- The Department of Fisheries has envisaged a strategic focus on cluster development across key areas, including Pearl, Seaweed, and Ornamental Fisheries; Reservoir Fisheries; Fishing Harbours; Saline Water Aquaculture; Cold Water Fisheries; Sea Cage Culture; Freshwater and Brackish-Water Fisheries; Deep Sea and Oceanic Fisheries; Organic Fisheries; Wetland Fisheries, and other areas tailored to specific sectoral and regional needs.
- The Department of Fisheries has already identified three locations as priority areas for development that are Hazaribagh District in Jharkhand for pearl culture, Madurai District in Tamil for ornamental fisheries and UT of Lakshadweep for seaweed.
