Exploitation of marine fishery resources and its contribtuion to Indian economy

Abstract

India possesses a long coastline, of about 6400 Km. Declaration of the Exclusive Economic Zone has resulted in about 2 million sq. km area of marine waterspread coming under the control of India, against its land area of about 3.2 million sq. km. The marine living resources of India are vast and varied, and the possible yield from these resources has in recent years opened up new vistas for their exploitation. This paper presents information on the status and means of exploitation of these resources, the exports and per-capita availability of marine products and their contribution to the national wealth. There are 2408 fishing villages fringing the coastline of India, with 1414 fishlanding centres. According to the census carried out by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in J 980, the total marine fisherfolk population was about 2.1 million. There are 0.14 million indigenous craft comprising plank built boats, dug-out canoes and catamarans. Mechanized boats number about 19000, of which 60% are trawlers.