new delhi: The Secretary of the Department of Fisheries in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Abhilaksh Likhi, on Friday said that the department is looking at drone technology to
transport live fish in a boost for fisheries sector.
Likhi made the comments during the ‘Fisheries Secretaries Conference 2025’ and National Workshop on Harnessing Technology and Innovation in Aquaculture here to review the progress of Pradhan Mantri Matasya Sampada Yojna, fisheries and aquaculture infrastructure development fund and implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana.
Senior officers from the State Fisheries Departments, Reserve Bank of India, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Open Network for Digital Commerce, Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium, National Cooperative Development Corporation and ICAR also participated in the meeting.
In the address, Likhi urged states to strengthen collaborative efforts aimed at upscaling the fisheries sector through innovation, infrastructure and institutional synergy.
Emphasis was laid on the extensive use of satellite technology to enhance fisher safety and operational efficiency covering aspects such as resource mapping, biometric identification, and facial recognition.
Likhi highlighted a pilot project on drone technology for live fish transport, aiming to develop a 70 kg payload drone capable of carrying live fish in difficult terrains from aggregator to distribution point.