Supreme Court says delay in EEZ fishing access passes is an unwritten ban
Justices Narasimha and Aradhe held purse seine fishermen may transit Tamil Nadu waters to fish the EEZ, and directed the State to clear pending access-pass applications.
The Supreme Court has held that failure to process fishing access-pass applications in time “virtually amounts to imposing an unwritten ban”, which is impermissible in law. Deciding a dispute over the right of fishermen using purse seine nets to reach the Exclusive Economic Zone beyond Tamil Nadu’s territorial waters, a Bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe disposed of the pending application on September 2, 2026. The Court found that a full legal regime now governs purse seine fishing in the EEZ and transit through State waters, and directed Tamil Nadu to ensure effective and timely clearance of applications. It also directed the State to frame rules designating a specified transit channel. The judgment turns on cooperative federalism between two co-equal regulatory spheres — the Union in the EEZ and the State within territorial waters.
How the dispute reached the Court
In 1983, Tamil Nadu enacted the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1983, drawing on its power under List II Entry 21 of the Seventh Schedule. Section 3(k) defines the “specified area” as sea along the coastline but not beyond territorial waters, Section 5 empowers the State to regulate or prohibit fishing there, and Section 7 requires vessel owners to hold a licence.
Using that power, the State issued G.O. MS No. 40 dated 25.03.2000 through the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. It prohibited fishing by pair trawling or with purse seine nets in the entire coastal areas of Tamil Nadu within territorial waters, as a measure to conserve the fishery. The State later issued the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Rules, 2020. Rule 17(7) bars pair trawling and purse seine fishing across the State’s coastal area.
The applicants complained that Tamil Nadu was using the 2020 Rules to stop them even carrying purse seine nets to the EEZ for fishing beyond 12 nautical miles, an area outside the State’s regulation. The State argued that under Rule 17(7) even carrying the nets in a vessel violates the ban, and that vessels could exploit the transit to fish with purse seine nets within 12 nautical miles under the guise of EEZ fishing.
The ban had already been litigated before the Madras High Court, which dismissed the challenge to the G.O. by its order dated 20.04.2021. A Special Leave Petition followed. During its pendency, the applicants filed a writ petition under Article 32 seeking permission to fish with purse seine nets beyond the State’s territorial waters.
The Expert Committee and interim arrangement
Because the prayer involved fishing beyond territorial waters, the Court by order dated 24.08.2022 directed the Union to constitute an Expert Committee to examine purse seine net use across maritime States and Union Territories within three months. The terms of reference included assessing the impact on fish population in the EEZ and building a national consensus.
The Committee’s interim report of 15.11.2022 said a ban on purse seine fishing was not justified and could be allowed subject to conditions, with States devising access plans and the Union framing a management plan for waters beyond territorial waters. The Court read the recommendations to mean purse seine nets do not cause major environmental harm to fishing stocks, but that effective regulation was required.
By order dated 24.01.2023 the Court passed a restricted interim order allowing purse seine fishing beyond territorial waters but within the EEZ, on conditions. These included permission only for registered vessels fitted with an approved Vessel Tracking System, operation only on Mondays and Thursdays, departure after 8 AM and return by 6 PM the same day, biometric identification for sailors, colour coding of boats, and same-day submission of tracking data to confirm fishing occurred outside territorial waters.
Two regimes, no conflict
The Union placed the final Expert Committee report on record on 31.05.2024. It recommended special annual permits for innocent passage through State-regulated territorial waters, spatial, temporal and technical guidelines, a Vehicle Monitoring System with mandatory catch reporting, and a Union nodal agency for a National Permit System.
Acting under Section 7(1) of the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976, the Union framed and notified the Sustainable Harnessing of Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone Rules, 2025 on 04.11.2025. These provide for an “Access Pass” issued by a Central issuing authority, verified by a State-designated officer, along with a fisheries management plan, catch reporting, identity cards, a prohibition on juvenile fishing, and a National Action Plan against illegal fishing.
The Court found no conflict between the Union’s EEZ Rules, 2025 and the State’s Marine Fishing Regulation Rules, 2020. Regulation of fishing beyond territorial waters falls under Entry 57 of List I and the Union’s competence, while regulation within territorial waters vests in the State under Entry 21 of List II. The powers, the Court said, are “co-equal and autonomous” in each sphere.
Cooperative federalism and the pending applications
The Court stressed that effective implementation required the Union and State to abide by cooperative federalism. Both administrations were duty bearers not only to implement their own regulations but to ensure stakeholders had easy access and efficient clearance of applications to pursue their rights under Article 19(1)(g), subject to reasonable regulation.
As a reality check, the Court examined the status of Access Pass applications on the ReALCRaft Portal as on 03.08.2026. Of 257 applications, about 226 remained pending verification by Tamil Nadu, and only 6 Access Passes had been issued — said to be the lowest among all coastal States. The Court held that not processing applications in time virtually amounts to an unwritten ban, and directed the State to ensure effective, efficient and timely clearance.
Order
The Court disposed of I.A. No. 190882/2024 with directions that the rights and liabilities of the parties would be governed by the EEZ Rules, 2025 and the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Rules, 2020. It directed the State Government to frame rules designating a specified channel under Rules 15(5) and (6) of the 2020 Rules for transit of vessels from territorial waters to the EEZ for purse seine fishing, taking into account the Expert Committee’s final recommendations.