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Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan released the Mission Rangeen Machhli 2031 Strategic Action Plan for Ornamental Fisheries Development at Agatti, Lakshadweep, on 31 August 2026.
The plan sets nationwide standards for broodstock management, captive breeding, hatchery operations, quarantine, traceability and export of decorative fish.
It is anchored in the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and aligned with the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana.
Lakshadweep was chosen for the launch: it has about 4,200 sq km of lagoons and an EEZ of nearly 4 lakh sq km, roughly 17% of India's total.
Fisheries projects worth more than Rs 62 crore have been approved for the Union Territory under PMMSY.
Ornamental fisheries is the breeding, rearing and trade of fish kept for aquariums and decorative ponds rather than for food. It is a high-value, low-volume business: the unit price of a captive-bred reef fish can be many times that of an equivalent weight of food fish, and the main inputs are skill and water quality rather than land. Because much of the global trade has historically drawn on wild-caught reef species, the central regulatory question is whether a fish was bred in captivity or taken from a reef - which is why traceability and certification sit at the heart of this mission.
Simple Analogy: It is the difference between a farm that sells wheat by the tonne and a nursery that sells a few hundred rare orchids - same water and skill, very different price per kilogram.
Develop, regulate and scale India's ornamental fisheries into an organised, globally competitive industry by 2031
Key: Nationwide SOPs for broodstock management, captive breeding, hatchery protocols, disease prevention and live-fish packaging and transport
Prevent the spread of invasive pathogens and meet importing countries' health standards
Key: Standardised quarantine mechanisms, fish health surveillance and quality assurance
Verify captive-bred origin and prevent illegal capture of endangered reef fauna
Key: End-to-end traceability enabling global sustainability certification
Holistic development of the fisheries sector, covering production, productivity, infrastructure, post-harvest management and the value chain
Key: Launched on 10 September 2020 with a total investment of Rs 20,050 crore; implemented by the Department of Fisheries
GS Paper 3 > Economy > Animal Husbandry and Fisheries; Blue Economy
General Awareness > Government Schemes
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Current Affairs
General Awareness > Current Affairs
Mature fish maintained specifically for producing eggs and young for breeding programmes
The ability to track a fish or fish product through the supply chain from source to sale, used here to prove captive-bred origin
The sea zone extending up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline, within which a coastal state has rights over resources under UNCLOS
Rearing fish through their full life cycle in controlled systems rather than capturing them from the wild