Port Blair (Sri Vijaya Puram): The Andaman and Nicobar Administration has opened up notified sea areas for mariculture activities, inviting applications from fishers, fish farmers and other eligible groups and entrepreneurs seeking to take up open-sea cage culture, seaweed farming and pearl culture.
The initiative, being implemented through the Directorate of Fisheries, provides an opportunity to expand marine-based livelihoods and fisheries-related enterprises in the Islands while making productive use of designated sea areas. Applications are open to fishers, fish farmers, fish workers and fish vendors, besides individual entrepreneurs, private firms, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Fisheries Cooperatives, Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) and Fish Farmers Producer
Organisations/Companies (FFPOS/FFPCs).
The designated sea areas were notified by the A&N Administration on September 19, 2025. The prescribed application form and detailed terms and conditions governing open-sea cage culture, seaweed farming and pearl culture have been made available on the official websites of the A&N Administration and Directorate of Fisheries.
Eligible applicants can submit completed applications with the required documents at the Directorate of Fisheries, Sri Vijaya Puram, or the respective Zonal Fisheries Offices of South Andaman, North & Middle Andaman and Nicobar. Applications can also be submitted by email at dirfish.and@nic.in.The deadline for submission is October 15, 2026.
The Directorate has clarified that those who have already submitted applications to the Department need not apply afresh.
With sea-based livelihoods facing the twin need for diversification and sustainable utilisation of marine resources, the mariculture initiative could provide an additional avenue for local communities and fisheries-linked enterprises, subject to adherence to the prescribed conditions governing the use of notified sea areas.
