NEW DELHI, Nov. 2 -- Nearly a decade after its last count, India is once again taking stock of its fishing communities-this time with tablets instead of clipboards. The government on 31 October launched the fifth National Marine Fisheries Census (MFC) 2025, a 45-day digital exercise beginning 3 November to map over 1.2 million fisher households across more than 4,000 marine villages in nine coastal states and four union territories.

The census, to be completed by 18 December, will be the country's first fully digital and geo-referenced survey of the fisheries sector.

The move comes as part of a broader push to strengthen the primary sector-agriculture and allied activities-which grew 3.7% in the first quarter of FY26. With fisheries con...