Lobster culture along the Bhavanagar coast

Abstract

Gujarat has made tremendous strides in the marine production during the past two decades. From a humble production of 82,159 tonnes in 1971 (7.1% of all India marine production), the production increased to 2.34 lakh tonnes in 1981 (17% of all India marine production) and further to 4.92 lakh tonnes in 1990 (20.1% of all India marine production), (Vivekanandan et ah, in press). This six times increase in the fishery was exclusively from the capture fishery sector. This tremendous growth in the marine fishery, coincided with a remarkable growth in the proccessing and export industry of the region. A substantial portion of the marine catch is contributed by the Saurashtra coast. The introduction of the commerical trawlers in 1967, mainly to capture shrimps for export market and subsequent large scale expansion of the trawlers were mainly responsible for the blue revolution along the Saurashtra coast (Philipose 1992).