Lakshadweep Moves Toward Tuna, Seaweed and Community Enterprise

Lakshadweep is expanding its fisheries strategy through tuna development, deep-sea fishing, Fish Aggregating Devices, seaweed cultivation, processing, cold-chain infrastructure and community enterprise. The Union Territory Fisheries Department records 81 fisheries projects under PMMSY: 24 completed and 57 ongoing. The islands have about 4,200 sq km of lagoon area, 20,000 sq km of territorial waters and an EEZ of around 400,000 sq km. Latest departmental data record fish production of 16,891 tonnes in 2024–25.

A July 2026 perspective plan set a five-year target of 50,000 tonnes of tuna and tuna-like fish annually. Under PMMSY, approval has been received for 10 deep-sea fishing vessels and 18 additional FADs. Seaweed is the second major livelihood component. Lakshadweep is listed as a national Seaweed Cluster, with a seed bank at Kadmat and a hatchery at Chetlat.

Ten SHGs across nine inhabited islands are participating in community seaweed demonstrations. PMMSY support also includes cold storage, ice plants, fish kiosks, insulated transport and value-addition units. Chetlat and Minicoy are selected as climate-resilient coastal fishing villages. The strategy links resource access, vessels, seaweed, processing, SHGs, cooperatives and markets.

Its success will depend on whether production growth raises incomes without damaging tuna stocks, reefs, lagoons or seaweed ecosystems. The island strategy also requires ecological caution. Tuna effort, FAD deployment and reef-linked livelihoods must be monitored with fish-stock data, catch per unit effort, seaweed survival, lagoon water quality and community income, so that livelihood diversification does not become ecological over-extraction. The programme also has to track post-harvest losses and the share of value retained by island fishers and women’s groups.

Original source references: Lakshadweep Fisheries Department; PIB, 7 July 2026; Department of Fisheries PMMSY cluster framework.

Rural Development Today | 2 October 2026 | Development Connects | Kallol Saha