India’s marine fish landings slipped 2% in calendar year 2024 to 3.47 million tonnes, down from 3.53 million tonnes in 2023, according to the annual marine fish landing estimates of the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), released on 4 August 2025. Gujarat kept its crown as India’s top marine fishing state, Tamil Nadu held second place, and Kerala slipped to third — but the real story is not the small national dip. It is how sharply the map shifted: the west coast struggled while parts of the east coast surged, and one species’ wild price swing in Kerala showed how a landing number becomes a household budget shock.
Note on the images in this post: the banners are illustrations created for this article, not photographs of a specific landing centre or catch.
India’s 2024 marine catch at a glance
| Indicator (CMFRI, calendar 2024) | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Total marine fish landings, India | 3.47 million tonnes | Down 2% from 3.53 million tonnes in 2023 |
| Top state | Gujarat — 7.54 lakh tonnes | About one-fifth of the national marine catch |
| Second | Tamil Nadu — 6.79 lakh tonnes | Up 20% on the previous year |
| Third | Kerala — 6.10 lakh tonnes | Down 4% on the previous year |
| Top species | Indian mackerel — 2.63 lakh tonnes | Still No. 1 nationally despite a decline |
| Second species | Oil sardine — 2.41 lakh tonnes | Also down nationally, but booming in Kerala late in the year |
| Fishing trips monitored | About 2.5 lakh trips | CMFRI’s online data collection system, via its Fishery Resources Assessment, Economics and Extension Division |
First, do not mix up “landings”, “catch” and “production”
CMFRI itself draws this distinction, and it matters for anyone quoting the 3.47 million-tonne figure. “Catch” means everything removed from the water during fishing, including fish discarded or never sold. “Landings” mean the portion actually brought ashore and received by the harvester, whether or not it is later sold. CMFRI’s 3.47 million tonnes is a landings estimate.
It is also a calendar-year figure (January–December 2024), so do not compare it directly with financial-year production totals. For context, India’s total fish production across marine and inland sectors reached 197.75 lakh tonnes in 2024–25, as covered in our earlier report India’s Fish Output Hits 197.75 Lakh Tonnes (2024–25) — a much larger number because it includes inland fisheries, which alone contributed 151.60 lakh tonnes that year. A separate Press Information Bureau release cites marine fish production of 46.15 lakh tonnes in 2024–25, a financial-year departmental figure compiled on a different basis from CMFRI’s calendar-year landings estimate. Treat the two marine numbers as different series, not as a contradiction.
The state scorecard: Gujarat on top, Maharashtra the growth story
| State / UT | 2024 landings | Change vs 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Gujarat | 7.54 lakh tonnes | Retained No. 1 position |
| Tamil Nadu | 6.79 lakh tonnes | Up 20% |
| Kerala | 6.10 lakh tonnes | Down 4% |
| Maharashtra | Not stated in the release summary | Up 47% — the highest growth rate reported |
| West Bengal | Not stated in the release summary | Up 35% |
| Odisha | Not stated in the release summary | Up 18% |
| Karnataka, Goa, Daman & Diu | Not stated in the release summary | Significant declines |
| Andhra Pradesh | Not stated in the release summary | Declined — the east-coast exception |
The broad pattern CMFRI reported is a west-coast decrease against an east-coast increase. That headline needs a footnote: Maharashtra, on the west coast, posted the biggest jump of all at 47%, while Andhra Pradesh went against the east-coast trend with a decline. In other words, the coast-level story is real but not uniform — state-level management, fleet mix and local weather mattered more than which coast a state sits on.
Gujarat’s lead is large but not unassailable. At 7.54 lakh tonnes against a national total of 34.7 lakh tonnes, Gujarat accounts for roughly 21–22% of India’s marine landings — about one tonne in every five. Tamil Nadu, at 6.79 lakh tonnes and growing 20%, is closing the gap from below, while Kerala’s 4% fall widened the distance between second and third.
Which fish drove the numbers?
Indian mackerel remained India’s most landed marine resource at 2.63 lakh tonnes, followed by oil sardine at 2.41 lakh tonnes. Together the two species alone account for about 5.04 lakh tonnes — roughly 14–15% of all marine landings. That concentration is why a bad mackerel or sardine year moves the national total.
CMFRI reported declines in 2024 for Indian mackerel, threadfin breams, oil sardine, ribbonfishes, non-penaeid shrimps and cephalopods, while lesser sardines, penaeid shrimps, anchovies and tunnies increased. The split is instructive: the decliners include the two biggest species, which is consistent with a small overall fall, while growth in smaller groups such as anchovies and tunnies softened the drop.
Kerala in detail: a sardine year of two halves
Kerala’s 6.10 lakh-tonne total hides the most dramatic sub-story in the CMFRI release. Indian oil sardine topped Kerala’s catch at 1.49 lakh tonnes, up 7.6% on the year — yet the year began with severe scarcity. In the first quarter, sardine prices in Kerala escalated to Rs. 350–400 per kg. From September onwards landings surged, exceeding one lakh tonnes in the last quarter alone, and prices crashed to Rs. 20–30 per kg.
| Kerala’s top species, 2024 | Landings | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Indian oil sardine | 1.49 lakh tonnes | Up 7.6%; scarce in Q1, abundant from September |
| Indian mackerel | 61,490 tonnes | Down 16% |
| Penaeid shrimp | 44,630 tonnes | Third-largest contributor |
| Anchovies | 44,440 tonnes | Close behind shrimp |
| Threadfin breams | 33,890 tonnes | Fifth-largest contributor |
For a fishing household or a small trader, that price swing — from Rs. 350–400 down to Rs. 20–30 within the same calendar year — matters far more than the state’s 4% landing decline. It is a textbook case for cold storage, value addition and staggered marketing: when the fish arrive all at once, the price collapses unless some of the catch can be held, dried, frozen or processed instead of being sold fresh on the day.
Why did landings fall? Cyclones, heatwaves and lost fishing days
CMFRI pointed to cyclonic storms — Dana, Fengal, Remal and Asna — as a significant drag on fishing activity in 2024, alongside increased heatwave days in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala that further disrupted operations. This is not speculation about climate in general; it is the institute’s own explanation for a specific year’s dip, tied to named storms that kept boats ashore and broke up fishing seasons.
The effort data underline how different the fleets are. Across the roughly 2.5 lakh monitored trips, mechanised craft averaged 2,959 kg per trip, motorised craft 174 kg per trip, and non-motorised vessels just 41 kg per trip. A mechanised boat therefore lands roughly 17 times what a motorised traditional craft lands per trip, and about 72 times a non-motorised vessel’s trip. Any policy that talks about “the average fisher” without separating these three fleets will miss the economics completely: fuel, ice, crew and market access look entirely different at 41 kg a trip than at nearly 3 tonnes.
How to use these numbers — for students, fishers and traders
- For fisheries students and exam aspirants: memorise the ladder — 3.47 million tonnes total, Gujarat 7.54, Tamil Nadu 6.79, Kerala 6.10, mackerel 2.63, sardine 2.41 — plus the growth outliers (Maharashtra +47%, West Bengal +35%) and the cause (cyclones Dana, Fengal, Remal, Asna). These are exactly the kind of figures CMFRI-based questions are built from.
- For fishers: check your state’s direction, not just the national average. A 2% national fall coexisted with a 47% jump in Maharashtra and a 20% rise in Tamil Nadu — local stocks and local weather decided the year.
- For traders and processors: plan for volatility, not averages. Kerala’s sardine swing from Rs. 350–400 to Rs. 20–30 per kg is the warning: storage and processing capacity is what turns a glut from a loss into an opportunity.
- For anyone quoting the data: always give the year, the institute and the measure — “CMFRI marine fish landings, calendar 2024: 3.47 million tonnes.” Dropping any one of those three invites a false comparison with production or export totals.
What this means alongside India’s export boom
A falling marine catch did not stop India’s seafood trade from setting records. India’s seafood exports reached Rs. 73,890 crore in 2025–26, as covered in India’s Seafood Exports Hit ₹73,890 Crore Record — driven heavily by farmed shrimp rather than wild marine catch. That contrast is the key insight for readers: India’s seafood economy is increasingly carried by aquaculture and processing, even in a year when the wild marine harvest dips. Globally the same shift is visible — the FAO’s SOFIA 2026 edition, covered in FAO SOFIA 2026: Global Fisheries Output Hits 235M Tonnes, puts world aquaculture above capture fisheries in volume. And for a sense of how fast farmed production can move, see Chile Sold 557,532 Tonnes of Salmon in 8 Months.
The policy question the 2024 numbers pose is therefore not “is Indian fisheries shrinking?” — total production and exports say otherwise — but “is the wild marine sector getting the weather resilience, safety nets and value-chain investment it needs?” A 2% dip after four named cyclones is survivable. Repeated cyclone-hit years without storage, insurance and alternative income would not be.
Frequently asked questions
What were India’s marine fish landings in 2024?
3.47 million tonnes, down 2% from 3.53 million tonnes in 2023, according to ICAR-CMFRI’s annual estimates released on 4 August 2025.
Which state landed the most marine fish in 2024?
Gujarat, with 7.54 lakh tonnes, followed by Tamil Nadu (6.79 lakh tonnes) and Kerala (6.10 lakh tonnes).
Which species topped India’s marine catch in 2024?
Indian mackerel, at 2.63 lakh tonnes, followed by oil sardine at 2.41 lakh tonnes.
Why did marine landings fall in 2024?
CMFRI attributed the decline significantly to cyclonic storms Dana, Fengal, Remal and Asna, plus increased heatwave days in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala that disrupted fishing operations.
Are “landings” the same as “catch”?
No. Catch includes everything removed from the water, including discards; landings are the portion actually brought ashore. CMFRI’s 3.47 million tonnes is a landings figure.
Sources: ICAR-CMFRI annual marine fish landing estimates for 2024, as reported by Press Trust of India via Business Standard and The Week on 4 August 2025; Press Information Bureau release on marine fish stocks and marine fish production (2024–25 figure cited for series distinction only). Figures verified against those sources on 3 November 2026. State figures for Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Goa, Daman & Diu and Andhra Pradesh are reported as growth/decline directions in the CMFRI release summary; exact tonnages for those states were not stated in the summary and are therefore not invented here.