Marine Small-Scale Fisheries of Andhra Pradesh: A General

46 Pages·2005·0.61 MB·English

BAY OF BENGAL PROGRAMME BOBP/INF/4
Developmentof Small-Scale Fisheries (GCP/RAS/040/SWE)
MARINE SMALL-SCALE
FISHERIES OF ANDHRA PRADESH: BOBP/INF/4
A GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Executing Agency: Funding Agency:
Food and Agriculture Organisation Swedish International
ofthe United Nations Development Authority
Development of Small-Scale Fisheries in the Bayof Bengal
Madras, India, June 1983
PREFACE
Thispaperattemptsabrieffactualpresentationofdataandbaselineinformation
on the main features of marinesmall-scale fisheriesin Andhra Pradesh.
It mayserve as an introduction to the subject, leadingto deeper studies; as
a source of general information; or as a background document for use in
discussionson planning and programming of development assistance.
The paperrevises and updates an April 1978document issuedby the FAO/
UNDP Project for Development of Small-Scale Fisheries in South West
Asia, RAS/74/031. That document was partlyfinanced by the preparatory
phase of the FAO/SIDA Bay ofBengal Programme.
Thisdocument has been prepared in cooperation with the Directorate of
Fisheries, Andhra Pradesh. It is a working paper and has not beenofficially
cleared by the Government orthe FAO.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction 1
2. Fishery resources 1
3. Fishing fleet 2
4. Infrastructureand service facilities 4
5. Production 5
6. Handling and processing 6
7. Distribution and marketing 7
8. Export and import 8
9. Coastal aquaculture 9
10. Socio-economics 11
11. Fisheries administration and institutions 12
11 .1 Fisheries administration 12
11 .2 Research and development institutions 13
11 .3 Training institutions 13
1 2. Industryorganisation 14
1 2.1 Fisheries corporations 14
12.2 Fisheries cooperativesocieties 14
13. Government policy 15
14. Development plans 15
15. Bibliography 16
Tables:
5.1 Fish landingsby month 5
5.2 Contribution of non-mechanised and mechanised craftto fish
landings 6
7.1 Coastal marketing units of APFC 7
8.1 Value and quantity of fish exports, 1972-79 8
8.2 Compositionof fish exports, 1977-79 9
9.1 Brackishwaterswith aquaculture potential 9
9.2 Shrimp/fish seed availability at Kakinada 10
12.2 Membership and share capital of AFCCS Ltd. 1979/80 14
Appendices:
1.1 An administrative-cum-coastal map of Andhra Pradesh 17
1.2 State data 18
2.1 AndhraPradesh coastal districts and the continental shelf 21
3.1 Distribution of traditional marinefishing craft
owned/shared by fishermen 22
3.2 Distribution of mechanised fishing craft owned/shared byfishermen 22
3.3 Distribution of fishing gear owned/shared byfishermen 23
3.4 Economics ofoperation ofa 10 mmechanised boat 24
4.1 Distribution of freezing, frozen storage and ice-making facilities in
the coastal districts 26
5.1 Fish landingsin Andhra Pradesh 1970-80 26
5.2 Compositionof marinefish landings, 1972-79 27
5.3 Landings of selectedfish species by months (1977) 29
5.4 Some importantcommercial marinefish speciesofAndhra Pradesh 30
7.1 Demand for marine fish (1977) 31
7.2 Comparison offish prices at various levels (1977-78) 32
10.1 Fisherfolk population (1980) 33
11.1(a) Fisheriesin national and state administrations 34
11 .1(b) Administrative set-up of Directorate of Fisheries 35
12.1 Organisation chart of Andhra Pradesh Fisheries Corporation (APFC) 36
14.1 Fisheriesdevelopmentschemes (1951-79) 37
14.2 Proposed fisheriesdevelopment projects during the sixth five year
plan (1980/81-1984/85) 38
Publications ofthe BayofBengal Programme 40
The state of Andhra Pradesh is situated between latitudes 13°40’Nand 19°Nand
longitudes 80°Eand 85°E.It is bordered by the Bay of Bengal in the east, Orissa and
Madhya Pradeshin the north, Maharashtra inthe north-west, Karnataka in the west and
south-west, and Tamil Nadu in the south. The state is divided into 23 revenue districts;
nine of the districts are coastal. An administrative map is given in Appendix 1 .1. Some
socio-economic indicators are given in Appendix 1.2.
The continental shelf is estimated to be 31 ,000 km2 and is 32 km wide on the average.
The 0-50 m depth range area covers about 16,000 km2.
Andhra Pradeshaccountedfor morethan 6% of India’s total marine landings and 23% of
the marine landings of the east coast states in 1979. Pelagic fish contributed 46% and
demersal 54% to the total landings. About84,000 fishermen earn their livelihood wholly
or partially from marine fishing. Some36,000 craft are engaged in sea fishing, ofwhich
over 99% are traditional and non-mechanised, mostly kattumarams. Motorisation of
fishing craft was first attempted in the late 50’s but there are only a few hundred
motorised marine fishing boats. Synthetic twine has almost replaced cotton twine for
making fish nets. At least 70% of the catch is landed by the non-mechanised traditional
craft from waters hardly beyond 40m depth.
Fishermen have a low caste status. Theyare classified a “backward class” and belong to
the socially and economically weaker section of the population.Thefishingvillages areto
a large extent geographically isolated : adequate infrastructure facilities, proper road
communication and sufficient fresh watersupplies are lacking. The standard of housingis
usually verylow, a fact aggravated byfrequent firesand cyclones.
In view of the increased demand forfish and the scope offered bythe resource potential
for increasing catch, the government envisages expansion ofthe fishing fleet as well as
increaseof its operational range by means of fleet improvements and diversification,
—
provision ofimproved landingfacilities, better marketing andtransport infrastructure. The
government isalso focussing its attention on the development of potential brackishwater
areas forfish and shrimp farming.
The Sixth Five-Year Plan (1980/81-1984/85) aims at increasing marine landings up to
134,000tonne perannum by 1984/85.
Besides increasing production,the government aimsatsecuring reasonable prices forfish
producers and at improvingthe socio-economicstatus offisherfolk.
2. FISHERYRESOURCES
Andhra Pradeshgenerally has a warm climate. Summer and winter temperatures in the
coastal districts mayvary between43°Cand 15°C.Theeffectsofboth monsoons arefelt
but greater rainfall is experienced during the southwest monsoon of July-September,
particularly inthe northern part. Thenortheast monsoonofOctober-December bringsrain
especiallyalongthe southern part of the coastal belt.Theaverageannual rainfallis90-1 20
cm. Cycloneswithspeedsof90-130 km/hr arequite common during October-November.
January-April is the calm season and the best for fishing. During October-December,
cyclonic weather hinders fishing. Occasional gales interspersed with calm periods are
experienced during May-September.
Comprehensive oceanographic data are not available for the region. On the entire east
coast, the circulation of water along thecoast isgreatly influenced bythe patternsof wind
associated with thesummer monsoons. Around February, a clockwise circulation sets in
and becomesstronger during the southwest monsoon period. After October,the current
reverses dueto the northeastmonsoon and an anti-clockwise circulationtakes place from
November to about the beginning of February. The average value of salinity ranges
between 30 ppt and 34 ppt and the surface temperature is between 27°Cand 29°C.
Salinity in the bay comes down significantly during the monsoons becauseof dilution by
theheavy discharge of fresh water from the Godavari and Krishna rivers.
The bottom of the continental shelf up to 70 m depth is predominantly flat with no
trenches or sudden slopes and is hence suitable for trawling. Continuousecho-sounding
surveysoffVisakhapatnam have revealed several interesting topographic featuressuch as
terraces, pinnacles and reefs between 70 m water depth and the edge of the continental
shelf. Deepwatertrawl nets often getentangled inthesestructuresand sufferdamage. Of
the total area ofthe continental shelf about 53% is in the 0-50 m depth range. Appendix
2.1 (map) showsthe coastal districts and the depth contoursof the continental shelf.
Exploratorysurvey data collected during 1958-78wasanalysed byRao and Rajkumar in
1979. The analysis showed that the seasonal abundance of various groups of fishes in
different zones remained more or less the same over the entire period. Six important
groups of fish predominated : sharks; skates and rays; cathsh; miscellaneous big (larger
than 30 cm) including mainly Pomadasys hasta, Stromateus niger and Muraenesox spp;
miscellaneoussmall (smaller than 30cm) including mainlyLeiognathus spp, Upeneus spp,
Johnius aneus, Nemipterusjaponicus, Trichiurus spp,and Sauridatumbelit; and prawns.
The analysis showedthatthe average annual percentageofcatchcomposition forthe six
importantgroups of fish in three depth zones (0-30 m, 31-40 m, 41-70 m) showedlittle
variation; 55-60% of the catch was composed of the miscellaneous-small category.
Catfish comprised 21-24% ofthe catch, sharks and rays from 5 to 7% and prawn 2 to
3%; catfish showed an inverse relationship withthe miscellaneous fish in their monthly
abundance. In some years, about 40% ofthe total shrimp catch was landed during July
August; the average catch ratein thedepth zone 0-30 m was about 130 kg/hr, in the
-
31-40 m 100 kg/hr, and 110kg/hr inthe 41-70 m zone.
There are no estimates of the overall resource potential of the continental shelf.
An analysis of the results of exploratory surveys carried out in areas lying between
latitude zones 15°40’N and 19°40’N andin depths ranging from 10 m to 90 mforthe
period 1972-78 indicates that the richest latitude zones for elasmobranchs were 16°
40’ and 18°40’; catfish were abundantsouth ofVisakhapatnam; the highest catch rate
for shrimp was in 18°10’; the miscellaneous small fish were most abundant in the
latitude zones 15°40’, 18°10’ and 18°40’; and the 16°10’, 16°40’ and 15°40’
zoneswere seento be therichest when thecatch rate of all fish was considered.
Theanalysisfurthershowedthatrays, catfishand miscellaneous-bigabound atthe60-70m
depth; shrimp prefer shallower depths of 10-20 m; the miscellaneous-small category is
concentrated at depths 20-30 m and 30-40 m and that, in general, the 60-70 m depth
zonerepresents the most productive area.
3. FISHING FLEET
Fishing craft
The all-India census of marine fishermen, craft and gear, 1980, made a count of about
36,500marine fishing craft inAndhra Pradesh. Thefigure included about 450mechanised
boatsout of a total of 580 constituting lessthan 2% of the total number of craft. Of the
traditional craft, the major component consisted of kattumarams accounting for 62%.
Thedistribution ofthe mechanised boatsandtraditional craft owned/shared byfishermen
bytype and district is given in Appendices 3.1 and3.2 respectively.
Thetraditional craft consistof kattumarams, masula boats, navas, dinghiesand dhonies.
Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam districts have the largest number of kattumarams.
Dinghies are found almost exclusively in Krishna district while dhonies are common in
East Godavari and Guntur.
[2]
The kattumaram is made up of 4or 5 solid logs lashed together in twoor three pieces.
When assembled they take a boat form with a rockered bottom, sharp stem and a
narrow stern. The dimensions are : length 4.5-7.5 m and beam 1 .0-1 .5 m. Wood with
good buoyancy is preferred for construction and includes Melia dubia and Albizzia
stipulata. The paddles, oars and other accessories are usually made from bamboo and
casuarina. It is propelled byoars or paddleswhilecrossingthesurfand bysail in the open
sea. The cost of a kattumaram is Rs.2,500 5,000 depending on the wood used, size,
-
type of accessories, etc. It operates up to 35km from the shore and up to 50 m depth,
carrying a crew of 3-5 persons. Fishing methods used are mostlysmall-mesh gillnetting,
line fishing and boat seining; and the main species caught are sardine, small mackerel,
ribbon fish, silver belly, shrimp, etc. The craft has a life of 5-10 years, shorter when
constructed with cheap wood.
Thenava is a craft made of teakwood planks. Its dimensions are usually length 5-10 m,
beam 1 to 2 m, depth 0.75 m. It operates all year round except during days of very
rough weather. The craft is prominent in the East Godavari and Krishna districts. It is
used for bottom set/gillnetting, drift/gillnetting, stake netting and beach seining. The
cost is Rs. 5,000-10,000 and thc service life approximately 10 years.
The Kakinada nava is a bigger version of the nava. It is 9-12 m long, 2 m broad, 1 m
deep, and is operated by a crew of 8 to 1 0.
TheKothapa/em nava is a modifiedversion of the Kakinada nava, used mainlyalong the
Guntur coast. It has atransomstern while the Kakinada nava is double-ended.
The masula orpadava is generally made of mango wood planks stitched togetherwith
reeds and coir rope. The spaces between the planks are caulked with pitch and coir.
Being keelless, the craft can be easily pulled ashore. It is used only for shore seining,
mostly in Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Guntur and in smaller numbers in East Godavari,
Prakasam and Nellore districts.
Mechanisation of fishing craft in Andhra Pradesh started in 1954-55, when the state
government, in collaboration with FAO experts, introduced the first mechanised boats.
Thesizesof the mechanisedboatsvary from 9mto 11m,the mostpopularsizebeing 10m.
Most ofthese boats are used for shrimp trawling.
Mechanised boatsgenerally have uninsulated holdswith acapacityof3tonne. The holds,
however, are generally not used and the fish is dumped on the deck.
The horsepowerof the engines generally varies between 50 HP and 80 HP. The hulls are
mademostlyofwood andoftensheathedwith aluminiumto protect thewoodenhullsfrom
marine borerattack. Chemical wood preservativeswith toxicingredients are alsoused to
protect thewood from decay, marine borers and other biofoulants.
Mechanisedboats are not expectedto operatewithin 5 kmfrom the coast, as thisstrip of
water is reserved for non-mechanised craft. The mechanised boats usually do not fish
beyond the 40 m depth line. Vessels of 25 gross tonnage, or more, which have to be
operated by certified skippers, are not expected to fish within the 10 km line. The
economicsofoperation ofa 10mtrawler basedin VisakhapatnamaregiveninAppendix3.4.
As a rule, all mechanised boats have to be registered with the state’s port department
under the harbour craft rules.
In addition to the 9-1 1 m mechanised boats, there are about 66 foreign built trawlers
engaged in commercial shrimp trawling. Their lengthranges between 21 and 30 m, the
most popularsize being 23 m.
TheAndhra PradeshFisheriesCorporation (APFC)owns and operatestwo 23 mtrawlers;
the private sector operates the rest. The APFC plans to procure and operate six more
trawlers duringthe Sixth Plan Period.
2 [3]
Fishing gear
A variety of fishing gear is used in Andhra Pradesh. These include shore seines, boat
seines,gillnets, drag nets,cast netsandtraps. Thedistributionoffishinggearowned/shared
by fishermen according to the count taken in the all-India census of marine fishermen,
craft and gear of 1 980, is shown in Appendix 3.3.
Thebo3t seine (iragavala) is made of 20 count cotton yarn. The cod end is made of jute
fibre. Themesh size varies from 12.5 to 250 mm smallest atthe cod end and gradually
—
increasingin size atbelly and wings. It isoperated from a kattumaram by4or 5fishermen.
it costs Rs. 1,500-2,000
The shoreseine (Ally/va/a) is madeof 20 count cotton yarn. The head and foot ropes are
madeof hemp. Long coir ropes are attached to thewings on either side.The mesh size at
the wings is about 300 mm and at the bag 12.5 mm. In the “chinna (small) alivivala”,
however, the mesh size is the same throughout. Floats are attached to the head ropes.
Lead or stone sinkers are used with the “pedda (big) alivivala” whereas no sinkers are
used with the chinna alivivala. Thepedda alivivala has a bag and is operated by 40 to 50
men while the chinna alivivala has only a loosecentral portion which acts as a bag, and is
operated by about 20 men.
Gillnets (Vaddivala/Kaftavala) areusedasdriftorbottomsetnets,accordingto the season
and the type of fish caught. The meshsizevariesfrom 50 mm to 150 mm. Cotton/hemp
nets are being replaced by nylon netsin recent years.
Napuvala is a type of nylon gilinet with the head rope and foot rope (8 mm PP-PE)
measuring 1 8 m and 16 m respectively. Local wooden floats called tilla karra or chilapa
karra are used. Sinkers are not used. Theyare generally operated from Kothapalem navas,
each craft carrying 60 to 80 units.
Kasula va/a is a prawn gillnet made of nylon twine and operated from kattumarams.
Length of head/foot rope is42 to 44 mof2 or 3 mm ofPP-PE rope. Woodenfloatsand 5-
7 cm diameter cement or stone sinkers are used. Each kattumaram carries 8-10 units of
this net.
Astake netmade of 20 count cotton yarn is generally used in shallow areas and operated
from dinghies, small Kothapalemnavas and dhonies.Mesh size is 75 mm at the mouth and
1 2 mm at the cod end. This conical shaped bag net with a rectangular mouth is fixed to
casuarina poles or palmyrah trunks driven into the bottom of the sea.
Longlines with 800-1000 hooks fastenedto lines oftwisted cotton yarn are sometimes
operated from kattumarams.
4. INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICE FACILITIES
Thereareabout 450coastal fishingvillages and about380fish landing centres. Thereare
formal landing facilities for mechanised boats only at two places, Visakhapatnam and
Kakinada. The fishing harbour at Visakhapatnam, established in 1976, has a slipway and
repair facilities. The harbour providesservicesfor a fleetof 300 mechanised boats and 56
trawlers. Kakinada has a fishing harbour basin 180 m long and 22 m wide. Though
designed toaccommodate 75 10 m mechanisedboats, it now handlesabout 300vessels.
Asecond harbourat Kakinada isbeing planned. TheAPFC is responsible forthe establishment
and operation of these harbours.
South ofKakinada, thereare nolanding facilities for regular use bymechanised boats.The
establishmentof three more harbours one at Nizampatnam (Guntur district) for about
—
50 boats, one at Krishnapatnam (Nellore district) for 250 boats and one at Bhavanapadu
(Srikakulam district) for 200 boats is proposed during the Sixth Five-Year Plan.
—
[4]
Most of the freezing and frozen storage and a substantial portion of the ice-making
facilities used for fisheries are in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts. The total
capacity of the ice plants is 583 tonne/day. Freezing and frozen storage capacities are
157.7 tonne and 2560 tonne respectively. Distribution of these facilities by districts is
indicated in Appendix 4.1.
At a large number of places along the coast, traditional fishing craft are constructed by
artisanal boatbuilders without elaborate boatyard facilities. Talarevu in East Godavari
district and Machilipatnamin Krishnadistrict are two very important centres for thistype
of boatbuilding.
The APFC operates a boatyard for theconstruction of mechanised boats at Kakinada. The
yard’s original capacity was 60 10-12 m boats a year; it was recently expanded to 120
boatsa year.
Repair andservice facilities for mechanised boats are availableonly atVisakhapatnamand
Kakinada. The APFC operates a fuel supply point at Kakinada to supply diesel, lubricants,
etc., atreasonable rates for fishing boats. There is no net-making plant inthe state.
Development of access roads in the fishing villages is a long-felt need. Specific plans exist
to construct roads or improve the existing ones in four of the coastal districts, viz.
Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Gunturand Nellore, with foreign aid. A total of about 350
km of road isto be constructed under two projects.
5. PRODUCTION
Theestimatedfish production in 1 980from marinewaterswas about11 6,000tonneand
represents 48.7% of the total landings from inland and marine sources. Andhra Pradesh
ranks sixth among the eight maritime states of India and second among the four east
coast statesin marinefishproduction. The state’s fish landingsfor 1970-80are shown in
Appendix 5.1.
Fish production statistics show a sharp increase in 1974 of nearly 60% from the previous
year. Increases were maintained till 1976; landings returned thereafter to the pre-1974
level. The reason for the sudden increase in production is not known but was not
apparently linked with fishing pressure. The composition of marine fish landings from
1972 to 1979 is shown in Appendix 5.2.
In 1979, the clupeid species constituted 22% of the total marine landings. The other
important forms were elasmobranchs, penaeid shrimp, sciaenids, ribbon fish, mackerel,
catfish and carangids.
Monthwisetotal fish landingsfor two years areshown in Table 5.1.
Table 5.1
Fish landings by month
MONTHS
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
1976 18.4 16.5 11.9 11.5 11.6 8.0 7.0 9.2 9.8 6.2 8.5 12.7 131.3
1977 7.3 8.0 16.4 12.6 9.1 7.9 10.3 6.5 6.3 4.4 5.0 6.9 100.7
Monthwiselandingsof selectedfish species in 1977are indicated in Appendix 5.3.
[5]