360° UPSC Mains Analysis

India

The coastal and marine ecosystems of India are heavily influenced by the tropical monsoon climate, experiencing biannual reversals of wind patterns (Southwest and Northeast monsoons) that drive ocean upwelling and nutrient enrichment. These waters are highly vulnerable to climate-induced changes, including rising sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification, and frequent tropical cyclones, which threaten marine biodiversity and fish stocks.

India is strategically positioned in South Asia, jutting into the Indian Ocean with the Arabian Sea to its west and the Bay of Bengal to its east. This peninsular geography provides India with a vast Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of over 2 million square kilometers (specifically 2.02 million sq km) and a standard official coastline of 7,516.6 km (noting that the article mentions about 11,100 km based on recent high-resolution mapping).

India's marine waters are rich in biodiversity, supporting over 350 varieties of commercial marine products and contributing 8% to global fish production. The blue economy, which includes fisheries, ports, shipping, and offshore energy, contributes approximately 4% to India's GDP, with the fishing industry alone supporting nearly 30 million livelihoods and generating significant export earnings (valued at ₹62,408.45 crore in FY25).

Under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, legislative power over fisheries is divided: Entry 21 of List II (State List) vests the regulation of fisheries within territorial waters (up to 12 nautical miles) in State Legislatures, while Entry 57 of List I (Union List) vests the regulation of fishing and fisheries beyond territorial waters (in the EEZ) in Parliament. This dual jurisdiction necessitates cooperative federalism and coordinated data-sharing between the Centre and coastal States to successfully implement a comprehensive blue economy accounting framework.

India's marine exports reached 1.7 MMT valued at ₹62,408.45 crore in FY25, growing at 3.11% annually in volume, with major markets in the US and China. Implementing SEEA-based accounting ensures compliance with international sustainability standards, reducing the risk of non-tariff barriers on Indian seafood exports. It also helps maintain a favorable balance of trade by preventing the collapse of commercially vital export species like frozen shrimp and squid.

The integration of blue natural capital into national accounts will refine India's GDP calculations by accurately reflecting the depletion or regeneration of marine resources, which currently contribute approximately 4% to the national GDP. It will help manage the fiscal deficit by optimizing budgetary allocations, such as the ₹2,500 crore allocated to the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) in FY 2026-27, based on sustainable yield data. Furthermore, it safeguards long-term export revenues (valued at ₹62,408.45 crore in FY25) by preventing overexploitation of marine assets, thereby stabilizing the current account balance.

The primary sector, specifically marine fisheries and aquaculture, will transition from volume-based exploitation to value-based sustainable management. Secondary industries like seafood processing and cold-chain logistics will benefit from a more predictable and sustainable supply of raw materials. Tertiary sectors, including marine tourism and shipping, will see reduced spatial conflicts as integrated accounting makes trade-offs between competing ocean users more transparent.

The initiative directly impacts the livelihoods of nearly 30 million people dependent on the fisheries sector by ensuring long-term resource sustainability and preventing sudden stock collapses. It will stabilize wages and employment in coastal communities by guiding investments away from overexploited zones and towards sustainable deep-sea fisheries. Additionally, it protects consumer prices from climate-induced supply shocks by establishing scientific catch limits and stock restoration protocols.

During the Constituent Assembly debates, Draft Article 271A (which became Article 297 of the Constitution of India) was introduced to clarify that all lands, minerals, and other valuable resources underlying the ocean within India's territorial waters belonged to the Union rather than coastal states. While some members questioned if fisheries should also be centralized, the Drafting Committee clarified that fisheries within territorial waters would remain a State subject (Entry 21 of the State List), while fisheries beyond territorial waters fell under the Union List (Entry 57). This constitutional division of power laid the foundation for federal jurisdiction over marine resources and the subsequent development of India's maritime laws.

Post-independence, India's maritime policy evolved from presidential proclamations to structured statutory frameworks, starting with the 40th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976, which substituted Article 297 to claim sovereign rights over the Continental Shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This was operationalized by the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976, and later supplemented by the Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels) Act, 1981, to prevent overexploitation. While fisheries development was a major focus of the Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985–1990), the 'Blue Revolution' as a specific, consolidated government scheme was launched in 2015-16 (Neel Kranti Mission) to systematically modernize fisheries, which was succeeded in 2020 by the flagship Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) to drive sustainable development. The current shift towards natural-capital accounting under the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) represents the latest transition from mere production-centric targets to ecological-economic valuation.

The transition from measuring gross physical output to valuing natural capital parallels the global shift in forestry management during the late 20th century, where countries moved from tracking timber volume (physical yield) to implementing green accounting to measure forest degradation and ecosystem services. Similarly, India's current experimental accounting of marine fish resources under the UN SEEA framework mirrors its own 2018 launch of the EnviStats India programme, which successfully integrated terrestrial assets like land, water, and forests into national accounts.

While the freedom struggle did not directly address modern ecological accounting, Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of trusteeship and his critique of industrial overexploitation in 'Hind Swaraj' (1909) emphasized that nature provides enough for human need but not for greed, a foundational principle of sustainable resource management that underpins today's blue natural-capital accounting.

By assigning monetary value to marine fish stocks, this accounting framework helps prevent overexploitation of fragile marine ecosystems and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). It provides a scientific basis to balance commercial fishing with the conservation of marine biodiversity, preventing the collapse of vulnerable species. This supports the protection of ecologically sensitive coastal zones and marine protected areas from unsustainable resource extraction.

The methodology relies on environmental-economic accounting, utilizing species-wise landing data over a ten-year period as a proxy to estimate biomass stability. It applies the economic concept of 'resource rent'—calculating net income attributable to natural resources after deducting capital and operational costs—discounted at a 2% real rate to project future asset life. This statistical modeling is increasingly supported by satellite-based marine spatial planning and GIS tracking of fishing vessels.

The accounting framework integrates climate-risk assessments, allowing India to estimate the economic costs of climate-induced changes like ocean warming and acidification on marine resources. This aligns with India's climate adaptation strategies under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by promoting resilient coastal ecosystems. It also aids in tracking the health of blue carbon sinks, which are vital for carbon sequestration and mitigating global emissions.

Directly supports SDG 14 (Life Below Water) by promoting sustainable fisheries management and ending overfishing. It also advances SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) through the efficient and sustainable use of natural marine capital. Furthermore, it contributes to SDG 13 (Climate Action) by integrating climate-risk assessments into national economic planning.

This accounting framework directly impacts the daily survival of nearly 30 million people dependent on the blue economy by shifting policy focus from mere volume-based extraction to sustainable resource management. Accurate valuation can prevent the sudden collapse of fish stocks, thereby safeguarding the food security, nutritional intake, and economic dignity of vulnerable coastal households.

The initiative aligns with Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and livelihood, ensuring that coastal communities are not deprived of their traditional means of survival. It also advances Article 39(b) of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) by ensuring that the material resources of the community (marine assets) are distributed to best subserve the common good, alongside Article 48A which mandates the State to protect and improve the environment.

As a District Magistrate of a coastal district, I would face the ethical conflict of balancing immediate economic development and livelihood security for local fisherfolk against long-term ecological conservation and climate resilience. Additionally, there is a tension between promoting large-scale commercial deep-sea fishing to boost national GDP versus protecting the traditional, small-scale fishing rights of marginalized coastal communities.

Traditional fisherfolk and coastal communities, particularly women who constitute a significant portion of the post-harvest fisheries workforce, face vulnerabilities due to resource depletion and climate-induced migration. Marginalized coastal populations (often belonging to Scheduled Castes or Other Backward Classes) are highly susceptible to the loss of subsistence livelihoods if commercial overexploitation is prioritized over sustainable community-led harvesting.