Marine Fisheries Policy Brief-1 Kerala

Kerala which has a coastline of 590 km ranks first in marine fish production of India, contributing nearly 25% (5.81 lakh tonnes on average) to the total annual production. The export of marine products from the State earns valuable foreign exchange besides affording innumerable job opportunities in the industry. The population depending on fisheries has steadily increased over the years and stood at 6,02,234 in 2005 (Anon., 2005). Kerala has been in the forefront of absorbing innovative and new technologies in fishing practices, which have led the marine fisheries sector to take a complex structure. The 1980s was an important period in the development of marine fisheries in Kerala. In the first half of the period the motorized sector grew rapidly and became the most important sector yielding the maximum catch in 1988. By that time, ringseine became very popular in exploiting the pelagic resources and replaced the boatseines to a very great extent. Huge size of the new net (450 to 1000 m long) and large number of crew (30 to 50) needed for its operation necessitated larger boats with high capacity outboard engines (3 outboard engines of 40 hp each). This facilitated extension of fishing grounds for the motorized sector. The fishing grounds covered by the mechanised sector also extended by increasing the boat size and fishing effort and efficiency through multi-day fishing during the late 90s