Abstract
Indian fisheries sector has witnessed phenomenal growth in marine fish production over the decades, with the modernization of fishing crafts and technology, thereby resulting in fluctuation of the same, thus rendering intense debate on growth and instability. To ease the production trend in a sustainable way and to conserve the dwindling marine resources, the monsoon trawl ban was introduced in 2001 in Tamil Nadu. The seasonal fishing ban has been one of the very few significant management measures for the sustenance of the marine resources since its preamble. Though remarkable upsurge in marine fish production was achieved post implementation of ban, yet, it had generated issues in employment, poverty and income generation of fishermen during the ban period and was always a matter of turbulence among mechanized and traditional sector of fishing. It is also alleged that the enhanced marine fish landings could also be a case of fishing in and out of the waters off Tamil Nadu coasts. We made an attempt to understand the social and economic impact of fishing ban on the livelihood of marine fisherfolk and to study the viability of different marine fishing units (Motorized and Mechanized) in Tamil Nadu. The overall employment loss and loss in labour income during the ban period was also assessed. The fishermen’s constraints during the ban has also been ranked and suggestions given to improve the livelihood security of the marine fishers’ in the Palk bay area.
Highlights
Tamil Nadu is a important maritime state of the country with 1.9 lakh sq. km of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf of 41,412 sq.km
A national study was conducted for the period 1985 2008 on the impact of seasonal fishing ban and concluded that there is no significant difference in catch and Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) trends before and after the introduction of seasonal fishing ban along the west coast[3]
The order of the merit given by the respondents was converted into ranks using the following formula: The present study focuses on the impact of ban on the livelihood security of mechanized workers
Summary
Tamil Nadu is a important maritime state of the country with 1.9 lakh sq. km of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf of 41,412 sq.km. Primary data with regards to the social and economic factors of employment and income loss to mechanized workers and those engaged in fishing across Palk bay in Tamil Nadu were collected by survey method in selected landing centres of Ramanathapuram, Pudhukottai and Nagapattinam districts.The sampling criteria used for the study was based on the higher concentration of crafts. Nine million man days seems to be lost during the ban period resulting in an economic loss of 396.37 crores to the mechanized and motorized fishing sector (Table 1).
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