Status Of Fishers Research Articles

Socio-economic status of fishers and fish production trends from cage culture in Chandil reservoir, Jharkhand

Socio-economic status of fishers and fish production trends from cage culture in Chandil reservoir, Jharkhand

Impacts of the Thondaimanaru Barrage Construction on socio – economic status of fishing communities in Thondaimanaru Lagoon, Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Present study was conducted to determine the impacts of barrage construction on livelihood status of fishers who involve fishing in Thondaimanaru lagoon. The data related to the socio - economic condition of fishers in the particular area were obtained through a pre - tested structured questionnaire and in - depth guided interviews from July 2016 to January 2017. Randomly selected 25 fishermen were interviewed. The collected data were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis. Survey results indicated that 88% of fishermen are living as nuclear families consisting of 4 - 5 members. Majority of fishermen are Hindus and 92% are married. About 64% engaged in fishing are under age group of 36 - 55. Education is still not prominent among the fishers. Only 84% has primary education. The main occupation in this society is fishing and earned highest monthly income LKR (6000 ± 1000). It was found that installation of barrage plays a crucial role in socio - economic status of fishers of Thondaimanaru lagoon. This barrage severely affected the traditional fishing, amount of fish production and its consequences on their income as well. It was apparent from the current study that these fishermen have poor livelihood status and they need support from government or other organizations to enhance their socio – economic status.

Status of Fishers in Glacier National Park, Montana

Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are a mid-sized forest-dwelling carnivore in the family Mustelidae, once widely distributed across the northern US and Canada. Between 1800 and 1940, they were extirpated across much of their former range through commercial fur harvesting and habitat modification. Glacier National Park (GNP), which maintains a wildlife sighting database containing public and agency sighting and track records of Fishers from 1947 through the present, presumed Fishers extant in the park. Over 2007–2012, GNP made opportunistic efforts to collect Fisher DNA in hair traps but were unsuccessful. In 2013 and 2015, GNP conducted a more intensive effort to document the occurrence of Fishers by systematically placing baited hair traps within putative Fisher habitat across the park. These efforts were also unsuccessful and I show through application of Bayes' Theorem that a resident population of Fishers in GNP is highly improbable. Past credible sightings of Fishers in GNP were probably animals dispersing from occupied habitats to the west of GNP, and I suggest that regular occurrence of deep, unconsolidated winter snow may have prevented Fishers from occupying GNP in the past.

Socio-economic status of fishers of the old Brahmaputra river in Mymensingh sadar upazila, Bangladesh

A survey was conducted to assess the socio-economic status of the fishers of the old Brahmaputra River in Mymensingh Sadar Upazila from April 2011 to March 2012. Data were collected from randomly selected 30 traditional fishermen of Kagdahor, Shambhuganj, Kawatkhali, BAU Campus, Shesmor, Sutiakhali, Char Kalibari, Char Ishwardia and Char Nilakshmia using a well-structured questionnaire. The research revealed that besides fishing, the fishers occasionally undertook a variety of non-fishery related activities. The average annual income ranged from 25,000-84,000 BDT which significantly depends on fishing effort, season of the year and market price of fish. Majority of them belonged to age range 15-30 years (59.25%). Almost 63% of the fishermen were illiterate and cannot write their names, while only 14.81% had received education up to primary level. It was also revealed that family size of 60% of the fishermen were medium consisting of 5-7 members while only 10% had small family size of 2-4 members. Despite their low income and large family sizes, 80% of the fishermen were living in semi-constructed houses. Sometimes for coping with adverse situation many of them took loans from different national and local NGOs like BRAC, ASSA. A declining trend of fish resources in the river and lack of working capital were identified as the major constrains for the fishers of the Old Brahmaputra River.Res. Agric. Livest. Fish.4(3): 229-235, December 2017

Tono Reservoir fishery contribution to poverty reduction among fishers in northern Ghana

Fishery characteristics and livelihood status of fishers at Tono Reservoir, Ghana, were investigated between January 2015 and June 2016. Data on fisher demography, fishing gears, fishing methods, perceptions of the state of fish stocks, management practices, income and consumption of fishers were obtained through structured interviews. Censuses of fishers and fishing gears were conducted through direct observation and counts. The population of fishers was 950 and the majority (74%) of the sampled respondents fell within the ages of 24–41 years. Gillnet, cast net, trap and hook and line were the four main gears utilised. Illegal methods of fishing observed included the use of mosquito nets (nets with mesh <1.0 cm) and the use of brewer’s waste (pito mash) as bait. Brycinus nurse, Synodontis spp., Parailia spiniserrata and Chrysichthys spp. were perceived to have disappeared from the reservoir. The fishers were unaware of the existence of any fisheries regulations, hence there was no adherence to management practices. Their daily income was derived mainly from fishing. The incidence of poverty among fishers was low (8%). The Tono Reservoir has a great potential for supporting livelihood if it is properly managed.

Notes on the Quality of Life of Artisanal Small-Scale Fishermen along the Pacific Coast of Jalisco, México

Sustainable fishing includes the socioeconomic status of fishers. We combined empirical quality of life (QOL) and subjective lived experiences methods to explore the social sustainability of artisanal fishers in five fishery collectives along the coast of Jalisco, Mexico, where the average daily income is slightly above the poverty level. The QOL scores were also related to annual catch and incomes within each collective. A QOL index is used in this study that combines importance and achievement ratings scores; the results are indicative of an acceptable QOL for fishermen. The concept of lived experiences, incorporating aspects of life relating to Mind, Body, Work and People was explored through interviews with 12 fishers. The QOL data revealed that family and friends are important indicators related to positive QOL reported by the sample, while economic indicators were not important. Although four of the five collectives perceived that the future looks worse than the present and past, there was limited correlation between catch or income and QOL. However, while the lived experiences exercise in part supported the QOL findings, in that People was the most important dimension for almost all of the fishers interviewed, negative economic gaps related to poor catches and incomes were prevalent in the Mind and Work dimensions. The findings suggest that to understand the socioeconomic component of sustainable fisheries, both of these approaches should be considered, as they can illuminate different aspects of fishers’ lives that need to be considered during the development of fisheries’ management policies.

Survey of Fishing Gear and Status of Fishers in Igbedi Creek, Nigeria Delta, Nigeria

A survey of fishing gear in Igbedi Creek, Niger Delta Area was carried out for six months from September 2012 to February 2013 to assess the types of fishing gear mostly used by fishers in this Creek. Five communities namely: Igbedi, Agorobene, Ogobiri, Toru-Ebene and Otuan were selected for the sampling framework. A total of 200 questionnaires were given out, 40 to each community. A two stage random sampling technique was adopted in the selection of fishers. Data collected was analyzed by using simple descriptive statistics, frequency and percentages. The greatest proportion (34.00%) of the fishers interviewed were within the agile age bracket of 30-39 years while 5.50% were within the non-active age (50 and above). Female fishers accounted for 61.00% while the males were 39.00%. Majority of the fishers (57.50%) were Ijaws and married fishers recorded the highest percentage (52.50%). Three types of fishing gears, hook and line, trap and net were used by the fishers. Net had the highest percentage (46.00%) while hook and line had the lowest percentage (7.50%). Most of the fishers (56.00%) generated about N2,500 to N3,000 as daily income while 17.50% realized more than N1,500 as daily income. Challenges affecting successful fishing operations include lack of fund to purchase fishing inputs, difficulty in accessing loans amongst others and proffered solutions were provision of fishing inputs at subsidized rate, provision of loans to fishers, provision of adequate extension services and others.

Inter-sectoral Disparity and Marginalization in Marine Fisheries in India

Fisheries policy in the eleventh plan aims at sustainable economic growth, with due concerns on food and nutritional security and supply side responses. The plan accords overarching priorities on bridging the sharpening divides and increasing disparities in all sectors. The socio- economic framework of the fishing community with structural changes in coastal sector needs successful design and implementation of development programs. This article highlights the sectoral growth of fishing units and their capital investment over the years, change in ownership pattern of means of production, earnings, sectoral disparity, and inequity among marine fisher folk in India. Base material for the analysis includes primary data collected from selected centers of maritime states in India and secondary data on marine fisheries census of CMFRI and other relevant publications. There has been sizeable growth of 70% in the mechanized fishing units and about 200% growth in motorized sector that are technically efficient (over the last 12 years until 2005). However, there has been a downtrend of 43% in the nonmechanized units (traditional sector) denoting a gradual phasing out of less efficient units. The improved socio-economic status of fishers is reflected by increase in literacy level, reduction in dropouts, and improvement in housing type. The proportion of owner operators in marine fisheries declined over the years with the increasing capital requirement for possessing motorized and mechanized fishing units. The fishermen involved in active fishing is more than the absorbing capacity of the fisheries sector leading to disguised unemployment and has led to lower per capita production, increased pressure on fishing, which results in juvenile catch, large level discards, and thus ultimately causing serious threats to resource sustainability and environmental stability. The nonmechanized sector is providing about 33% of the employment in active fishing, yet harvesting hardly 7% of the annual landings, whereas mechanized segment that employs 34% harvests 70% of total catch creating wide inter-sectoral income disparity. The annual per capita catch of fisher folk in mechanized segment is more than twice as those of the per capita catch of the motorized segment and nine times of the per capita catch of the nonmechanized (traditional sector) segment clearly signifying growing inter-sectoral disparity in distribution of economic gains. Average annual per capita earnings of fishing laborer range from Rs.13,200 for a motorized dingi with bagnet to Rs. 1,27,200 for a mechanized purse seiner. Significant variation is also observed even within groups of crafts namely trawlers, gillnetters, purseseiners, motorized, and traditional crafts. The analysis indicate that there is high incidence of poverty in the coastal rural sector explicitly revealing that majority of these people still could not get much of the benefits of the economic development taken place in our country.