Purpose: Public-funded fisheries extension services have been blamed as poor and responsible for the slow pace of aquaculture development in India. The present investigation aimed to find concrete interventions to streamline the extension service by understanding the research-extension-farmer linkage indirectly in terms of information sources of aqua farmers and fishery extension officers and assessing the existing organizational, manpower and extension capabilities of Departments of Fisheries of sample states. Design/methodology/approach: A random sample of 1008 brackishwater aqua farmers, a purposive random sample of 60 extension personnel and 45 researchers were interviewed to collect primary data for the study. A multidimensional Organizational Analysis Index was developed specifically for the study. The Wilcoxon paired rank test was employed to analyze and compare the perceptions of the fishery extension personnel. Findings: The study revealed that 90% of aqua farmers depend on private extension sources for information; information-seeking by the extension personnel was less than 50%; and less than 50% of the researchers expressed having had consultations with the extension agencies. Results indicated that the respondents differ significantly over the existing and ideal organizational, manpower and extension attributes of the fisheries departments. An extension approach to evolve a National Fisheries and Aquaculture Extension Service (NFAES) to strengthen fisheries departments with structural and functional realignments and partnership with farm leaders and fisheries professionals is suggested in order to streamline the fisheries and aquaculture extension service in India. Practical implications: The findings of the study may enlighten the fisheries development planners and provide indications to initiate attempts to streamline the fisheries extension departments for an effective extension service in India. Originality/value: The study was originally conducted by the authors. Nothing similar has been previously published or is currently under consideration for publication by another journal. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)