The government has set up a Nodal Authority to frame Approved Standardised Deep-Sea Fishing Vessels (DSFV) Design and Specifications (ASDDS) to help state fisheries departments in expediting implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).

The ASDDS will provide the minimum basic design parameters under which the vessels are to be constructed. DSFV’s constructed in compliance with the ASDDS promulgated by the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways shall be eligible for subsidy under the PMMSY scheme.

The PMMSY is a flagship scheme for focused and sustainable development of fisheries sector with an estimated investment of ₹20,050 crores for implementation during a five-year period beginning April 1, 2020 in all States/Union Territories, as a part of AatmaNirbhar Bharat Package.

Of this, an investment of about ₹12,340 crores is proposed for beneficiary-oriented activities in Marine, Inland fisheries and Aquaculture and about ₹7,710 crores is for fisheries infrastructure.

Also read: Draft National Fisheries Policy 2020: Fishermen voice concern over rising fuel cost

“I am proposing substantial investments in the development of modern fishing harbours and fish landing centres. To start with, 5 major fishing harbours – Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat – will be developed as hubs of economic activity. We will also develop inland fishing harbours and fish-landing centres along the banks of rivers and waterways,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said in her budet speech on February 1.

The ASDDS will cover the basic design aspects such as Outline Specifications, General Arrangement, Basic Calculations, Basic Structural Drawings, etc and will be prepared by Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), technically vetted by the Central lnstitute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) and approved ‘ln Principle’ by the Indian Register of Shipping (lRS), a ship classification society.

For any additional requirement to the minimum basic parameter, approval has to be taken from the respective agency.

The Nodal Authority will be headed by the director of CIFT with representatives from Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Indian Register of Shipping and the Naval Architecture Department of the lndian lnstitute of Technology, Kharagpur or llT Madras, an order issued by the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways said.

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