Costs and earnings op trawl operations along Nagapattinam coast of Tamil Nadu

The lucrative external market for shrimp and constant rise in the mechanised trawl fishing fleets not only enhanced the marine fish production of our country but also showed the way for the growth of an organised sea food export industry and increase in employment opportunities in the subsidiary sector. In this context, a study was undertaken at nagapattinam centre of Tamil Nadu coast where the operation of ordinary trawlers and pair trawlers is common. The study indicates that pomfrets contributed to more than 50 per cent of the revenue of pair trawlers and prawns about 50 percent of the revenue of trawlers. The pair trawling further provided a new technique to fishermen of this region to harvest the hitherto underexploited valuable resources like pomfrets, rays, croakers, clupeids, carangids and perches in substantial quantity. The introduction of single and two boats high opening trawl nets not only served as diversification of the existing bottom trawling but also directed to redeploy many units to catch commercially important finfishes depending upon the seasonal abundance. The trawl catch forms more than 90 per cent of the mechanised landings and 50% of the total landings of the state. The study indicates that both types of fishing are economically efficient