Marine Resources & the Ocean Economy — UNCLOS, Polymetallic Nodules, Ocean Energy & Blue Economy

1 · Classification of marine resources

Marine resources are anything humans can extract or use from the sea. They split into three families:

2 · Biotic resources — fisheries, mangroves, seaweed, corals

2.1 World & Indian fisheries

Global capture + aquaculture: ~223 MT (FAO SOFIA 2024). Aquaculture overtook capture in 2014 and now contributes ~51 %. Top producers — China > India > Indonesia > Vietnam > Peru. India: ~17.5 MT (FY 2023-24) — 2nd largest fish producer and 2nd largest aquaculture producer; largest shrimp exporter (~$5 bn).

FAO functional split:

• Capture marine — wild fish from sea (purse seines, trawls, gillnets). NW Pacific is world's richest fishery (Kuroshio-Oyashio meeting).
• Capture inland — rivers, lakes, wetlands.
• Marine aquaculture (mariculture) — shrimp, mussels, seaweed, finfish in cages.
• Inland aquaculture — IMC (rohu/catla/mrigal), carp, pangasius — India's strength.

India's Marine Fisheries Census 2016: ~3 477 marine fishing villages, ~0.4 M fishing craft (~73 000 mechanised), ~4 M fisherfolk. Gujarat = largest marine fish producer; Andhra Pradesh = largest overall fish producer (inland heavy); Kerala & Tamil Nadu = high value.

Blue Revolution & PMMSY

• Blue Revolution — launched 1985-90 (7th Plan) for aquaculture intensification; restructured 2016 as Neeli Kranti.
• PMMSY — Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, 2020-25, outlay ₹20 050 crore — largest-ever fisheries scheme. Targets: production 22 MT, exports ₹1 lakh cr, 55 lakh jobs, fish productivity to 5 t/ha.
• PM-MKSSY (2024) — Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (sub-scheme, ~₹6 000 cr) for formalisation, micro-insurance, digital onboarding.
• Kisan Credit Card extended to fisheries 2018.
• Fisheries & Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF) — NABARD, ₹7 522 cr corpus.

2.2 Seaweed — the "underwater forest"

Global market $17 bn, India only ~0.01 % (~30 000 t wet weight). PMMSY commits ₹640 crore for a Seaweed Park in Tamil Nadu (Kilakarai cluster) targeting 1.12 MT by 2025. Uses: agar/carrageenan (food), bio-fertiliser, biofuel, cosmetics, CO₂ sequestration (~5× of forests per area).

2.3 Mangroves — MISHTI

• India has 4 992 km² mangrove cover (ISFR 2021); Sundarbans 42 % of total. Other clusters: Bhitarkanika (Odisha), Pichavaram (TN), Mahanadi, Krishna-Godavari, Gulf of Kutch.
• MISHTI — Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (Budget 2023-24) — restore 540 km² of mangroves across 9 states + 3 UTs by 2028; convergence of MGNREGS + CAMPA + ICZM.
• Carbon sink: mangroves store up to 1 023 t C/ha (3-5× more than upland tropical forest). Cyclone buffer — Odisha super-cyclone 1999 highlighted role.

2.4 Coral reefs

• India: 4 major reef areas — Gulf of Mannar, Gulf of Kutch, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep. Total ~5 790 km² of reef.
• 4th global mass-bleaching event declared April 2024 (NOAA + ICRI) — DHW > 8°C-weeks across > 60 % of reefs. 2024 IPCC AR6: 70-90 % of coral lost at 1.5 °C, > 99 % at 2 °C.
• Reef Watch + ZSI + NCSCM monitoring; UN Decade of Ocean Science 2021-30 funds restoration trials in Lakshadweep.

3 · Abiotic resources — hydrocarbons, nodules, hydrates, placers

3.1 Offshore oil & gas

• India offshore production: ~70 % of crude (Mumbai High, Bassein, Krishna-Godavari, Cauvery, KG-D6) and ~80 % of natural gas.
• Mumbai High — discovered 1974, peaked ~470 000 bpd; declining since 2010. KG-D6 — Reliance/BP, gas restart 2020-23 (R-Cluster, Satellite, MJ).
• Licensing regimes (sequence to memorise):
  1. Nomination (pre-1991, ONGC/OIL)
  2. PSC — Production Sharing Contract (NELP 1999-2010, 9 rounds, profit-sharing)
  3. HELP — Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (2016) with revenue-sharing + uniform licence + market-priced gas
  4. OALP — Open Acreage Licensing Policy (under HELP, on-demand block bidding; OALP-IX awarded 2024)
  5. DSF — Discovered Small Fields rounds (2016-onward, for ONGC/OIL relinquished fields)
• Regulator: DGH (Directorate General of Hydrocarbons), Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. Geological body: NDR — National Data Repository at Noida.

3.2 Polymetallic nodules (manganese nodules)

Potato-sized concretions on the deep-sea floor (3 500-6 500 m), formed by extremely slow precipitation of Mn-Fe oxides + adsorbed metals — growth rate just millimetres per million years. Average composition by weight:

• Manganese ~24-31 % · Iron ~6-7 %
• Nickel ~1.25-1.5 % · Copper ~1.0-1.4 % · Cobalt ~0.2-0.25 %
• + trace REE, Mo, Ti, Pt

Three world-class deposits: CCZ — Clarion-Clipperton Zone (E. Pacific, ~4.5 M km², the world's largest), CIOB — Central Indian Ocean Basin (India's block), Peru Basin.

• India was the first country in the world to receive "Pioneer Investor" status from the UN in 1987.
• ISA contract (CIOB): originally 150 000 km², currently 75 000 km² after 50 % relinquishment, valid till 2027. Estimated ~380 MT of nodules.
• Implementing agencies: NIOT (Chennai) + NCPOR (Goa); mining vehicle under development: Varaha (tested at 5 270 m off Andaman, 2024).

3.3 Polymetallic sulphides (seafloor massive sulphides — SMS)

• Form at hydrothermal vents ("black smokers") on slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges; rich in Cu, Zn, Pb, Ag, Au.
• India holds a 15-year ISA contract on the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) + South-West Indian Ridge (SWIR) — area 10 000 km², signed 2016, extended to 2032.

3.4 Cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts

• Hard pavements on seamount flanks (800-2 500 m); rich in Co (~1 %), Ni, Mn, Pt, Te, REE.
• India applied to ISA in 2024 for two cobalt-crust blocks on Afanasy Nikitin Seamount (3 000 km² in CIOB) — Sri Lanka's CLCS overlap delayed approval.

3.5 Methane hydrates ("flammable ice")

• Ice-like crystalline solids in which methane molecules are trapped in cages of water — stable at low temp + high pressure (~500 m+ in deep ocean, or in permafrost).
• Each m³ of hydrate yields ~164 m³ of methane at STP — staggering energy density.
• India's NGHP — National Gas Hydrate Programme (launched 1997, expeditions NGHP-01 2006, NGHP-02 2015, NGHP-03 2024). Largest find: Krishna-Godavari basin ≈ 1 894 tcm (≈ trillion cubic metres) prospective resource — among the world's largest.
• Production challenges: clay-rich reservoirs (unlike Japan's sandy Nankai), commercial extraction not yet viable.

3.6 Placer minerals & beach sands

Heavy minerals concentrated by wave action along beaches.

• Monazite — Th-bearing → strategic (nuclear), Kerala (Manavalakurichi, Chavara), Tamil Nadu, Odisha, AP, Maharashtra.
• Ilmenite, rutile (Ti); zircon (Zr); garnet; sillimanite.
• India holds ~70 % of world monazite reserves. PSU custodians — IREL India Limited (Atomic Minerals Directorate, DAE).

3.7 REE & deep-sea brines

• Deep-sea muds (esp. CCZ & Indian Ocean) carry 0.05-0.2 % REE oxides; Japan's GSJ 2018 estimate: 16 Mt extractable REE in Minamitorishima alone.
• Red Sea brine pools (Atlantis II Deep) host Cu-Zn-Au sulphides.

3.8 Sand, salt & freshwater (desalination)

• India produces ~30 MT sea-salt annually — 2nd largest world producer (after China). Gujarat (Kutch, Bhavnagar) = 76 %.
• Desalination capacity ~1 200 MLD (Chennai's Nemmeli & Minjur RO plants; new 400 MLD Perur plant 2025); Lakshadweep relies on LTTD plants (NIOT).
• Construction-sand extraction from coast/offshore is regulated by CRZ 2019 and a separate Sand Mining Framework 2020.

4 · Ocean energy — tidal · wave · OTEC · offshore wind

Five renewable energy streams from the sea — only offshore wind is commercial at scale; rest are demonstration / pilot.

5 · UNCLOS & maritime zones

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted in 1982 (Montego Bay, Jamaica) and entered into force 16 November 1994. It is often called the "Constitution of the Oceans". 167 states + EU are parties; the US has signed but not ratified. India ratified it on 29 June 1995.

UNCLOS recognises seven maritime zones, measured from the baseline (low-water line along the coast, or a "straight baseline" along deeply indented coasts):

1. Internal waters — landward of baseline (ports, bays). Full sovereignty; foreign ships have no automatic right of entry.
2. Territorial sea (TS) — out to 12 nm from baseline. Full sovereignty (incl. airspace, seabed, subsoil) but foreign ships have right of innocent passage.
3. Contiguous zone — from 12 nm to 24 nm. Coastal state has jurisdiction only over 4 matters: Customs, Fiscal, Immigration, Sanitary (CFIS).
4. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) — up to 200 nm from baseline. Coastal state has sovereign rights for exploration / exploitation / conservation of all living & non-living resources of water column + seabed, plus jurisdiction over marine research & environment. Other states retain freedom of navigation, overflight & submarine cables.
5. Continental shelf — natural prolongation of land territory; default to 200 nm, may extend to 350 nm or 100 nm beyond 2 500 m isobath (Art 76) on ECS — Extended Continental Shelf submission to CLCS. Sovereign rights only over seabed & subsoil resources, NOT the overlying water.
6. High seas — beyond all EEZs. Six freedoms (navigation, overflight, lay cables, build artificial islands, fishing, scientific research).
7. The "Area" — seabed beyond national jurisdiction = common heritage of mankind; managed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA, Kingston, Jamaica).

1 nautical mile = 1 852 m. So: TS = 22.2 km · CZ outer edge = 44.4 km · EEZ outer edge = 370.4 km · CS max = 648.2 km.

5.1 The three Hamburg / Kingston / NY trio of UNCLOS institutions

5.2 Other key conventions / bodies (UPSC favourites)

• BBNJ Treaty (Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction) — adopted June 2023 (UN); often called "High Seas Treaty" — protects biodiversity beyond EEZs; 30×30 target. India signed Sept 2024.
• IMO — International Maritime Organisation (London, 1948) — shipping safety + pollution (MARPOL).
• IOC-UNESCO — Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (Paris). India hosts IOTWS (Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System) via INCOIS Hyderabad.

6 · India's EEZ, ECS claim & ISA blocks

India is a "peninsular maritime state" — 9 coastal states + 4 UTs, 7 516.6 km coastline (mainland 6 100 + islands 1 416), ~2.37 million km² EEZ (about two-thirds of India's land area), 1 382 islands. Coastline length will rise to ~11 098 km on the new Survey of India 2024 mapping (high-resolution).

Maritime Zones Act, 1976

India's domestic implementation of UNCLOS (pre-dates UNCLOS-1982 because earlier UNCLOS-I/II already framed the concepts). Declares TS = 12 nm, CZ = 24 nm, EEZ = 200 nm — implemented by Notification 15 Jan 1977.

India's Extended Continental Shelf submission

• India filed its first submission to CLCS in May 2009 claiming an ECS of ~1.2 million km² in three regions: Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea.
• Revised & partial submissions in 2024-25 — additional ~0.25 M km²; total potential ECS ~1.45 M km².
• If accepted, India's total under-jurisdiction sea area would expand to ~3.8 M km² — larger than India's land area.
• Overlap issues: Pakistan (Arabian Sea, esp. Sir Creek), Bangladesh (Bay of Bengal — resolved by PCA arbitral award 2014), Myanmar, Sri Lanka.

India's three ISA contracts (the Area)

7 · Sagarmala & port-led development

Launched 14 March 2015 by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways. Vision: reduce logistics cost (currently ~14 % of GDP) by integrating sea, rail, road, inland waterways. Total outlay ~₹5.5 lakh crore across 800+ projects by 2035.

Four pillars of Sagarmala

1. Port modernisation & new ports — 13 major + 200+ minor; new mega-ports (Vadhavan-MH 2024, Galathea Bay-A&N approved).
2. Port connectivity — last-mile rail/road (Bharatmala convergence); inland waterways (NW-1 Ganga-Bhagirathi, NW-2 Brahmaputra, NW-3 West-Coast Canal).
3. Port-led industrialisation — Coastal Economic Zones (CEZ); CEZ-1 Maharashtra, CEZ-2 Gujarat, CEZ-3 Tamil Nadu, etc.
4. Coastal community development — fisher skill-up, ROPAX terminals, cruise tourism.

Key data points

• India handles ~95 % of trade by volume + 70 % by value via sea — yet share of inland waterways in modal mix only ~2 % (vs 47 % in China).
• Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 — 150+ initiatives; target port capacity from 2 600 MTPA → 10 000 MTPA.
• Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 (released 2023) — 300+ initiatives, 10 mega-ports, 8 mega ship-building parks, Indian-flagged tonnage to global top-5.
• Major port traffic FY 2023-24: ~819 MT; growth ~4 %; Paradip overtook Deendayal as largest by cargo (2023).
• Vizhinjam (Kerala) — India's first deep-water transshipment port (16-20 m draft), commissioned July 2024; Adani Ports operator.
• Cabotage relaxation 2018 — foreign-flagged ships allowed coastal movement of empty containers + EXIM transshipment, to deepen Indian transshipment.

8 · Deep Ocean Mission · Matsya 6000 · Samudrayaan

Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) was approved by the Cabinet on 16 June 2021 as a flagship MoES programme; outlay ₹4 077 crore over 5 years (2021-26). Six verticals:

Matsya 6000 — quick facts

• Titanium-alloy spherical personnel sphere Ø 2.1 m · hull thickness ~80 mm · withstand pressure ~600 bar.
• 3 crew (1 pilot + 2 scientists) · life support ~12 hr nominal, 96 hr emergency.
• Joins exclusive club — only US Alvin, France Nautile, Russia Mir-1/2, Japan Shinkai 6500, China Jiaolong/Fendouzhe have built >6 000 m manned subs.

Allied institutions

• MoES — Ministry of Earth Sciences (parent).
• NIOT — National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai.
• NCPOR — National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research, Goa.
• INCOIS — Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Hyderabad (tsunami warning, PFZ advisories to fishermen, Ocean State Forecast).
• NIO — National Institute of Oceanography, Goa (CSIR lab).
• CMLRE — Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology, Kochi.
• NCCR — National Centre for Coastal Research, Chennai.

9 · Blue Economy framework

"Blue Economy" = sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth + improved livelihoods + jobs while preserving ocean-ecosystem health (World Bank, 2017). Anchored in SDG-14: Life Below Water.

India's Draft Blue Economy Policy (EAC-PM, Feb 2021)

Seven thematic pillars — recurring Mains hot-spots:

1. National accounting framework for Blue Economy + coastal state spatial planning.
2. Coastal marine spatial planning & tourism.
3. Marine fisheries, aquaculture & fish processing (PMMSY linkage).
4. Manufacturing, emerging industries, trade, technology, services & skill development.
5. Logistics, infrastructure & shipping (Sagarmala convergence).
6. Coastal & deep-sea mining, offshore energy.
7. Security, strategic dimensions & international engagement.

Numbers to quote

• India's Blue Economy contributes ~4 % of GDP currently; target ~9-10 % by 2030 (NITI Aayog Working Group).
• Global Blue Economy: $3 trillion in 2030 (OECD); could reach $5 trillion by 2050.
• India in IORA Working Group on Blue Economy (chaired 2021-23).

International linkages

• UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development — 2021-30.
• BBNJ "High Seas Treaty" — June 2023 (signed by India Sept 2024).
• 30×30 target — Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework, COP-15 (2022) — protect 30 % oceans by 2030.
• Quad Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) — 2022, real-time vessel tracking.
• IPOI — Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (PM, EAS 2019), 7 pillars incl. Maritime ecology (India + Australia leads) and Marine resources (India + France leads).

10 · Marine pollution & governance

The ocean absorbs ~30 % of anthropogenic CO₂ and ~90 % of excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases — but at growing cost. 80 % of marine pollution is land-based (UNEP).

CRZ-2019 (current rules)

Notification under EPA-1986; replaces CRZ-2011. Coastal stretches divided into four categories:

• CRZ-I — ecologically sensitive areas (mangroves, corals, turtle-nesting beaches, mudflats); split into IA (no construction) + IB (permitted exploratory).
• CRZ-II — already developed urban areas (cities like Mumbai); FSI as on date of notification.
• CRZ-III — rural areas (relatively undisturbed); split into IIIA (densely populated, NDZ = 50 m from HTL) + IIIB (sparsely populated, NDZ = 200 m).
• CRZ-IV — water body up to 12 nm; fishing & navigation regulated; sand-mining banned.

Implementing body: NCZMA (National Coastal Zone Management Authority) + SCZMAs.