A joint initiative by India’s Union Ministry of Fisheries, the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), and the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) is leading efforts to integrate drones into marine fisheries. This collaboration aims to improve fisheries management, sea cage farming efficiency, disaster response, and environmental conservation.
On 8 November, a special workshop and drone demonstration will take place at CMFRI for fishermen and fish farmers. The event will highlight how drone technology can be applied to various aquaculture tasks, such as dispensing feed, transporting live fish, water quality sampling, underwater imaging, and mapping, as well as assessing marine mammal populations. The workshop will be inaugurated by George Kurian, India’s Union Minister of State for Fisheries, followed by a live demonstration of drone capabilities in aquaculture.
According to Grinson George, Director of CMFRI, drones offer substantial benefits in improving efficiency and reducing labour costs, while also lowering environmental impact. Drones are already being used in coastal and offshore sea cage farming for tasks like monitoring fish health, checking water quality, and optimising feed distribution. They can also assist in the early detection of algal blooms, a significant threat to aquaculture farms.
Drones offer potential for marine mammal monitoring, improving stock assessments and helping track interactions or strandings of marine mammals. In emergency situations, drones can be used for rescue operations, such as dropping life jackets to stranded individuals.
Yet another potential use of drone technology to experiment is the transportation of live fish. Drones can efficiently move high-value fish from remote farms to markets, reducing transportation time and fresher fish, thus significantly benefitting fish farmers achieve better market prices for their products.