Economic performance of marine fishing operations in the state of Odisha, India

Abstract

The marine fish landings in Odisha State, India during 2020 was estimated at 1.75 lakh t, contributing 6.4% of the total marine fish landings in the country. The techno-economic evaluation of different fishing methods in Odisha was carried out for assessing the economic efficiency. Crew wages contributed the major share (62.59 to 87.55%) in motorised crafts and (81.53 to 95.37%) in non-motorised crafts. In motorised crafts, the contribution of fuel to operational costs ranged from 7.2 to 21.8%. Net profit margin and Return on Investment was 35 to 46% and 1 to 4.38 for motorised fishing operations and 42.07 to 74.01% and 2.45 to 12.15 for non-motorised fishing operations, indicating non-motorised fishing operations to be the most economically efficient method. Capital productivity and Input-output ratio was 0.53 to 0.62 and 0.07 to 0.23 for motorised fishing operations and 0.34 to 0.57 and close to nil for non-motorised fishing operations. The gross value added (GVA) of all fishing operations worked out to about 75 % of the gross revenue, which is a significant contribution to the economy. The major fishery resources landed in various fishing operations were clupeids, penaeid shrimps, croakers, pomfrets and carangids. In fishing operations, the increased cost of fishing per trip, the reduced catch and subsequent decline in the gross returns per trip have been cited as important constraints affecting the economic returns from different fishing methods, by the fishers. Keywords: Capital productivity, Costs, Gross value added, Input-output ratio, Labour productivity, Returns