Bhubaneswar: Shri Prem Chandra Chaudhary, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development (FARD) Department, announced that the State has formulated the Viksit Odisha 2036 Vision, which will serve as the foundation for establishing a series of specialized development missions.
Presenting the foundational guidelines to sector stakeholders in Bhubaneswar, Secretary Shri Chaudhary outlined the strategic roadmap for formulating Deep Sea Fishing Mission and Odisha Shrimp Mission designed to accelerate Odisha’s maritime and aquaculture industries under the state’s broader Blue Economy vision.
The programmatic rollout introduces ambitious operational targets for the newly established specialized bodies. The Deep Sea Fishing Mission is designed to modernize the state’s marine harvesting capabilities by deploying 150 advanced deep-sea vessels and tuna long-liners, while upgrading 500 existing mechanized boats over the next five years.
To support this expanded maritime activity, the state plans to build new specialized deep-sea fishing harbors, beginning at Gopalpur, alongside modernizing active infrastructures at Paradip, Dhamara, Chandipur, and Astaranga. Backed by the newly passed Odisha Marine Fishing Regulation framework, the mission also mandates high-tech safety and surveillance upgrades—such as vessel tracking systems and biometric fisher identification—to protect traditional fishers and ensure sustainable resource management.
Concurrently, the Odisha Shrimp Mission aims to position the state among India’s top two positions for shrimp production and export. The mission plans to expand eco-friendly brackish water aquaculture zones by extending permissible farming limits from the current 2-kilometer baseline up to 10 kilometers from the coastline. By developing advanced aquaculture clusters, utilizing bio-floc and poly-lining technologies, and providing robust financial subsidies, the state intends to expand shrimp farming across 10,000 hectares. This initiative targets an annual export boost of 2 lakh tonnes, seeking to generate an estimated 12,000 crore rupees in revenue while enhancing the livelihoods of over two lakh local farmers.
The policy rollout featured intensive consultations with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and traditional fishers who participated in thematic breakout group discussions. These focused sessions centered on integrating these two missions with advanced value addition strategies, with participants sharing technical insights and market recommendations to boost overall fisheries production, stimulate private investments, and scale up seafood exports to reach a target of 25,000 crore rupees by 2036.