The Supreme Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to create a dedicated transit corridor for purse seine fishing vessels to reach the Exclusive Economic Zone. The court ruled that previous administrative delays, which saw only six of 257 permit applications approved, functioned as an illegal ban on fishing activities. This order helps clarify the jurisdictional divide between state and central regulations, offering more regulatory certainty for the marine fishing sector.
The Supreme Court of India has issued a firm directive to the Tamil Nadu government, requiring it to establish an official navigation corridor for fishing vessels using purse seine nets. This corridor will allow these vessels to pass through the state’s territorial waters to reach the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), where their operations are federally permitted.
This decision addresses a long-running jurisdictional conflict between Tamil Nadu’s Marine Fishing Regulation Rules, 2020, and the central Sustainable Harnessing of Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone Rules, 2025. While the state holds authority over territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles to protect local marine resources, the court emphasized that these local rules cannot be used to block access to the EEZ, which falls under federal jurisdiction.
At the heart of the court's intervention was the inefficiency within the ReALCRaft portal, the platform used for processing fishing permits. Data as of early August 2026 showed that only six out of 257 applications had been processed, with the vast majority stalled. The bench classified these administrative bottlenecks as an “impermissible unwritten ban,” noting that the state’s failure to act effectively violated the fundamental rights of fishers to conduct business under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
For the broader seafood and marine sector, this ruling establishes a clearer precedent for cooperative federalism. By affirming that central and state mandates must function in tandem, the court has signaled that regulatory compliance should not be used to stifle economic activity within the sector. This decision provides necessary clarity for operators who rely on consistent access to deep-sea fishing zones.
Despite this legal clarification, operational risks remain for the industry. The state government faces significant challenges in monitoring these corridors to ensure that only authorized transit occurs, making enforcement a complex task. Furthermore, the sector may continue to face social opposition or future legal hurdles from traditional fishing communities, who have historically voiced concerns regarding the sustainability of purse seine fishing methods. Investors and stakeholders in the maritime space will be watching to see how quickly the ReALCRaft portal processing improves and how state authorities manage the monitoring of these newly mandated transit routes.