Introduction

A global review of the marine capture fisheries scenario reveals that 80% of the world's fish stocks for which assessment information is available are fully exploited and thus require effective and precautionary management. The current marine capture fisheries scenario in India is also characterized by increased and excessive fishing effort, overexploitation of certain resources from the inshore grounds and increased conflicts among the different stakeholders in the sector. Due to the larger dependency on inshore fisheries over the years, the production from near-shore waters has reached asymptotic level and hence ensuring sustainability is inevitable in marine fisheries policy. The Comprehensive Marine Fishing Policy underscores the need for a departure from the open access concept in the territorial waters and enforcing stringent management regimes.