Kerala Govt '469 Fishermen Died, 160 Went Missing Since 2015'

A total of 469 fishermen died and 160 others went missing off the Kerala coast over the last 11 years, according to figures released by the state Fisheries Minister's office on Friday, as protests erupted among the coastal community over the recent disappearance of two fishers. 

As per the data released by the office of minister V E Abdul Gafoor, 23,000 patrolling operations and 5,072 sea rescue missions have been conducted during the period from 2015-16 to 2025-26 under the Kerala Marine Fisheries Regulation (KMFR)



enforcement.

As many as 47,773 fishermen were rescued over the 11 years. The highest number of fishermen deaths was reported in 2017-18 at 79, followed by 55 in 2025-26 and 54 in 2023-24. Further, the highest number of fishermen reported missing in a single year was 29 in 2017-18, while 26 fishermen each went missing in 2016-17 and 2021-22, the figures showed. 

The latest data for 2025-26 showed that 2,107 patrolling operations and 560 sea rescue missions were carried out, resulting in 6,556 fishermen being rescued.