Gujarat: Fishing
- Gujarat has longest coastline (1600 kms.) and possess widest continental shelf aarea among maritime states of the country, which is broken by several bays, inlets, estuaries and marshy lands. This offers a huge scope of coastal aquaculture.
- The available area for fishing activities extends from Lakhpat in Kachchh district in north to Umargaon in Valsad district in south. Important commercial varieties of fish viz., Pomfret, Jew fish, Bombay duck, Shrimp, Lobster, Squid, Cuttle fish, Silver bar, Hilsa, Shark, Catfish, Mullets, etc. are caught in large quantities in these areas. In addition, the Gulf of Kachchh has congenial conditions for growth and sustenance of different types of Oysters, Shell fishes and Seaweed etc. During the year 2013-14, total fish production in the Gujarat has been estimated at 7.93 lakh tonne (87.64%), out of which marine fish contributes 6.95 lakh tonnes and inland 0.98 lakh tonnes (12.34%) worth Rs.5295.70 crores .
- During the year 2016- 17 (April-January-2017[P]) export of fish and fish products is estimated at 224774 tonnes, worth Rs.2478.11 crores. During the year 2016-17, through export of 282057 tonnes of fish and fish products, the state has obtained an exchequer of Rs.2929.61 crores. There were 36770 fishing boats registered in the state, out of which 24612 were mechanised boats and 12158 nonmechanised boats. At the end of December-2017(P), there were 39929 fishing boats registered in the state, out of which 24773 were mechanised and 12156 non-mechanised. According to the Eighteenth Livestock census 2007, there are 1058 fishing villages scattered in the remote places of the state, classified into Marine (260), Inland (716) and Estuarine (82). These villages are inhabited by 5.59 lakh fishermen, out of which 2.18 lakh were active fishermen engaged in fishing, marketing of fish and repairing of boats/nets, etc. In the early sixties, local consumption was hardly 4-7%. However, the scenario has since changed and presently local consumption in the state has gone up to about 60%. The per capita consumption within the state has doubled after nineties, and has touched 10.58 kg per year during 1999-2000.
Comparison of Fisheries Resources and Production (Marine +Inland) of Maritime states of India with special emphasis to Gujarat
- Gujarat with about 20% (1600 km) of the country’s coastline, 33% of the continental shelf area (1,64,000 sq. km) and more than 2,00,000 sq. km of EEZ ranks second among all maritime states of India in marine fish production.
- There are 263 marine fishing villages and 217 marine fish landing centres in Gujarat with Junagadh district having the maximum of 72 villages. Though the vast majority of population in Gujarat is vegetarian, per capita consumption of fish has dramatically increased from 4.53 kg in 1990-91 to 11.58 kg in 2002-03. Gujarat fisheries development has, thus, helped in improving the per capita availability of protein rich food. In 2008, the major contributors to the marine fishery of Gujarat were the pelagic finfishes with 39%, followed by demersal resources (31%), crustaceans with 22% and cephalopods with 8%.
- In 2011, the total marine fish production in Gujarat was 6.27 lakh t showing 19% increase over the previous year. Of the 66 different species/ groups/categories landed, the five main contributors were non-penaeid prawns (17%), ribbonfishes (13%), croakers (9.7%), molluscs (mainly the cephalopods) 8.2%) and Bombayduck (7.8%). There have been innovations in marine fish trade of Gujarat as well with processing and export of airbladders of ghol, koth, eel and catfish from Okha and of jellyfish from Jakhau earning huge foreign exchange.
- Scenario of Inland Fish Production in Gujarat
- Gujarat ranked first in marine fish production but rank 15th in inland fish production during 2013-14. The village ponds in south and central Gujarat which were traditionally used for livestock and domestic use were slowly brought under culture fishery over the last few decades. FFDA and other fisheries institutes joined hands to improve the inland fish production. The pond size varies from 0.5 ha to15ha, and water is available till the end of March.
- Most of these ponds are canal fed which gives 6 months for the fish farmer to harvest his catch when fingerlings are used as seed. As the intensity has increased over the years the lease amounts have risen proportionately well above the upset price. Many of the fish contractors belonging to the fishermen communities use it as a livelihood option to diversify their income. Over the last 20 years the leasing policy has changed number of times and has moved away from being protective to being more competitive. This has also given rise to high lease rates. These lease amounts in some cases provide for more than 90% of the total budget of the concerned village panchayats. Also this has attracted smart entrepreneurs who have developed an image of a Good Samaritan or a village toughie in order to establish their fishing rights and reduce poaching.
- Freshwater Aquaculture in Gujarat (Problems & Scope)
- There are several reasons for low production from the inland sector in Gujarat state. In Gujarat, majority of the districts have low rainfall and most of the ponds and reservoirs are seasonal, which affects long-term culture prospects. Fish seed stocking in ponds and reservoirs is inadequate and potential is not fully utilized. Poaching in large reservoirs is a major cause for low fish production. In many places religious taboos prevent fish harvesting. Another reason contributing to low aquaculture production is inadequate adoption of supplementary feeding practices. Insufficient training and low adoption of scientific culture practices also contribute to the low production from inland waters.
- The bulk of the inland catch is derived from Surat, Jamnagar, Bharuch, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Valsad districts. Freshwater prawns are mostly derived from Surendranagar, followed by Sabarkantha, Kheda, Ahmedabad, Valsad and Vadodara. In order to enhance the inland fish production in Gujarat, there is need to increase fry grow-out areas for culture practices in each district, making full use of the available potential. There is also need for introducing fast growing species for culture. In the seasonal water tanks and reservoirs of Saurashtra and North Gujarat, fingerlings stocking could be useful. Scientific management of reservoirs with adequate stocking and controlled fishing could go a long way in improving production. Polyculture of giant freshwater prawn and fish is another approach which could be pursued for increasing production. Fisheries development of Sardar Sarovar Project needs to be carefully planned and promoted in such a way as to maximize fish production from the reservoir proper and command areas. Following are priority areas which need to be focussed.
- Marine Fishery Development
- Marine fishing in Gujarat has emerged as an important economic activity with reference to food security, employment generation, poverty reduction and foreign exchange earnings. Gujarat’s annual marine fishery potential is estimated at 0.57 million metric tonne (CMFRI, 1997), which is about 17 per cent of the allIndia potential up-to 300 m depth, off the Gujarat coast. The maximum sustainable yield (MSY) off the northwest and Gujarat coasts was assessed as given in Exhibit 50. Deep sea demersal stocks are supported by threadfin bream, bull’s eye, skates, catfishes, ribbonfishes, Indian drift fish, etc. The midwater stocks are supported by the horse mackerel, shads, ribbonfishes, little tuna, squids and myctophids. These species are reported to sustain the fishery in a significant way. Out of total fish production in Gujarat, marine sector contributes over 90% of the catch.
- Gujarat’s share in the total fish production has been fluctuating in volume terms and has come down in value terms in the last decade. The main reason could be the declining fish catch and quality of catch. It is reported that 35% of the catch in the marine sector is low value miscellaneous fish. Junagadh district contributes the bulk of the marine landings, followed by Valsad, Jamnagar, Amreli, Kutch, Bhavanagar, Rajkot, Surat, Bharuch and Kheda. The Saurashtra coast between the Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Cambay presents unique oceanographic features and is endowed with a wide variety of highly relished table fishes.
- In view of the present-day situation, the need of the hour is to maximize production from the vast resources of the State in a judicious and well-managed fashion so as to conserve the resources and ensure productivity for generations to follow. This can be achieved by focusing research and commercial activities as given below. Fleet-size reduction, promotion of sustainable fishing activities through participatory rural development programmes, promotion of coastal mariculture and open sea farming, promotion of exploitation and utilization of non-conventional resources like seaweeds and gastropods, promotion of marine aquarium industry, conservation of resources through mesh size regulation, regulation of bottom trawling, regulation of fishing activities in identified breeding / nursery grounds, regulation of fishery of breeding adults and young juveniles, regulation of fishery of endangered / threatened species and promotion of sea ranching programmes of commercially important and cultivable species like shrimps and lobsters.
- Suggestions for Development of Mari-culture
- Development of Mariculture sites along the coasts, including island systems enabling leasing policy is desired. In the Kutch region, the fishery sector is comparatively less developed and it should be strengthened by providing new mechanised units and shore based infrastructure facilities to promote tapping of the resources. Establishment of a good marketing net-work would go a long way in the development of the sector. Large scale cage culture in open seas, development of different types of recirculatory and raceway systems for land based mariculture, development of entrepreneurship for large scale production of high valued marine ornamental species and emphasis on technology transfer can help to improve current situation.
- Prevailing Issues in Deep Sea Fishing sector of Gujarat
- The issues enlisted are: increasing fleet number, size and fishing efforts, non-implementation of mesh size regulation for cod end of trawl nets and dol nets, operation of outboard gillnetters and artisanal fishing during monsoon, irrational capture of mega spanners of long lived large marine fishes, large scale capture of juveniles and low value fish as bycatch in trawls, declining state of several stocks, impact of climate change on marine environment and the resources, inadequate on-board handling, quality control and marketing infrastructure, illiteracy and lack of awareness among the marine fisher folk community, lack of proper extension services and impact of global pressures on trade. Identity card should be issued to the authentic fish farmers in view of safety of fishermen and also to stop illegal cross border activities
- Constraints in Demand and Awareness
- Though Gujarat is traditionally a vegetarian state, but fishery can be a powerful source for livelihood of the rural poor, and it has food security and nutritional impacts too. There are people in villages of Adivasi areas in Gujarat who do not have much access to green vegetables, live mainly on fish as their food. The low demand may be of the following reasons: social and ethical beliefs, lack of awareness regarding the nutritional superiority of fish meat, lack of enough number of fisheries outlets/hotels, unavailability of processed fish products etc. To overcome above said problems several solution can be worked out like awareness campaigns, celebration of fish festivals on regular basis, specialized fish hotels and restaurants, moving kitchen vans/buses exclusively for processed fish food etc.
- Suggestions to improve fisheries development in Gujarat
- In spite of huge marine and inland resource of Gujarat state, major chunk of production of fishes/shellfishes comes from marine capture only. If we compare the resources (marine and inland): Gujarat holds 1st rank in marine resources with a total coast line of 1600 km having 1,64,000 sq. km of continental shelf along with this more than 2,00,000 sq. km of EEZ – second among all maritime states of India; whereas available inland water resources of the state is 4.26 lac ha, ranked seventh among maritime states of the country. During 2016-17 Gujarat holds first position in marine fish production 696,000 tons whereas, in Inland fish production the state holding 15th position with a mere contribution of 98,000 ton which is only 1.59% of the countries inland production. Form 2010-2014, if we compare the trends of marine and inland resources and fish production of the state, it is noticeable that marine fish production almost reached at stagnant level whereas most of the Inland water bodies were not exploited fully. In view of the above facts and figures, it is advisable to take necessary steps to improve the overall fish production of the state. Following suggestions may be helpful to explore the optimum fishery potential of the state and uplift the “poorest of the poor” fish farming community (fishermen families).
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