Monsoon trawl ban and its effects on the livelihood of trawl labourers: the case with Versova fishing village in Maharashtra

Indian fisheries sector in view of its potential contribution to national income, nutritional security, employment opportunities, social objectives and export earnings, plays an important role in the socio-economic development of the country. Fisheries sector contributes 4.3% to the agricultural GDP and export earnings are presently valued at over INR 68 billion from a volume of 460,000 tonnes. In addition, it provides direct and indirect employment, and dependency for over seven million people in the country

Indian Seafood industry and post WTO – A Policy Outlook

India plays a major role in the global seafood export among the Asian countries. The marine products exports from India reached 8 lakh tonnes worth 2.8 billion US $ in 2010-11 and registered an impressive double digit growth rate since 2007-08. India exports frozen shrimp, squids and finfish in dried, live and chilled forms to different destinations. With the current demand pattern of major seafood markets and with modern machinery for freezing and processing, several exporting firms have started development and exports of processed value added products. Among the different items exported, frozen shrimp and frozen fin fish accounted for about 75 per cent of the total volume of sea food exports from India. Even though frozen shrimp contributed only 19.24 per cent of the total volume of seafood exports, its share in the total value was 41.62 per cent in 2010-11. Frozen fish occupies prime position in terms of quantity, however its share in the total value is only 20.38 per cent showing low unit value realization ( Rs. 84.16 per kg) (MPEDA, 2011). The seafood export trade performed well in the past decades amidst stringent trade liberalization measures and economic recession which affected many Indian buyer countries. In India storage, processing and transport, grading and quality control facilities are mostly oriented towards the export market even though more than 80 per cent of the fish production is channeled in the domestic markets. Seafood trade influences the domestic markets significantly by way of affecting the supply -demand situation of many high valued fishes, competition for small scale traders and rise in prices in the domestic market

World Trade Organization and Indian fisheries: opportunities and threats

The 1994 Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization was developed during the Uruguay Round, a series of trade negotiations among 125 countries spanning seven and a half years. The Agreement specifies the purpose of the WTO, its functions, structure, and legal status, and provides for a Secretariat. The preamble text states that parties to the Agreement recognize that, "their relations in the field of trade and economic endeavor should be conducted with a view to raising standards of living, ensuring full employment and a large and steadily ' growing volume of real income and effective demand, and expanding the production of and trade in goods and services, while allowing for the optimal use of the world's resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development, seeking both to protect and preserve the envirorunent and to enhance the means for doing so in a manner consistent with their respective needs and concems at different levels of economic developmen

Projects - the cutting edge for development

A developing country like India is generally faced with the problem of a rapidly growing population coupled with the pressure on the arable lands .. The rapid growth of population has created problems of unemployment and under employment in such countries. An underdeveloped country suffers from a chronic deficiency of capital resources. The capital per capita is very low to the tune of $350. It is the opinion of most demographers that population pressures are like to increase still further in future in the under developed countries. As such it become necessary to step up the rate of development in order to outstrip the rate of population increase

Indian Fisheries Sector in the Wake of World Trade Agreement: Paradigms and Perspectives

International trade has become far more significant in the world economy, and over the past two decades world trade has grown faster than world output growth. However, over the 1990s, the value of world trade has fluctuated substantially. The economic environment for trade, specifically fish trade is changing in a remarkable way due to changes in domestic policies as well as international trade arrangements. GATT, the discussion on which started as early as 1947, the most important one, provided an useful forum for discussion and negotiations on international trade issues. Since then several rounds of talks were organized and the Eighth Round of Multilateral Negotiations popularly known as “Uruguay Round” was initiated in September 1986. Finally the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations as per the Dunkel Text paved the way for formation of WTO which may have serious implications and consequences for India in many sectors of the economy

World Trade Agreements and Indian Fisheries Sector: Reflections and Upshots

Seafood is high on the global trade agenda and has become particularly relevant in the light of the entry of fisheries into the WTO process (following WTO Doha Ministerial Conference in December 2002). International trading regimes are changing, with more open market access but with EU, US and other developed countries taking increasingly stringent measures for seafood safety. Changes in market access are likely to have significant implications for poor producers, and costs of implementation of international fisheries agreements, such as WTO sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, HACCP standards, and market-driven labeling schemes may reduce livelihood options through barriers for participation of poor people. Liberalization of economies coupled with increasing demand for value added products and other product diversifications has resulted in structural changes of seafood industry in the last decade. Indian seafood exports declined to $1.89 billion from 2.10 billion dollars during 2007-08. The global financial meltdown seems to have taken its toll on the export of marine products from India with the business recording a 10 per cent slump to$1.9 billion for the year 2007-08. The country may even fall short of its target of $2 billion set for 2009, reports which was hit mainly due to economic recession in Europe and America, which are the major importers of marine products from India. The provisions under the various WTO agreements are expected to have an impact on the different dimensions on the Fisheries sector

Consumers’ willingness to pay more for Shrimps in Suburban Mumbai

The study has been conducted with the objectives of finding whether the consumers are willing to pay more for shrimps in an suburban area of Mumbai, and if so, how much and what are the factors behind it. The study has revealed that the consumers are willing to pay a price higher than the market price of shrimps. The five factors behind their willingness to pay more for shrimps are: taste and preferences, lower prices, high nutritional value with low fat-content, proximity (easy access), and familiarity with a shop, in that order. The factor ‘taste and preference’ has been found so dominating that consumers are willing to pay even ` 500/kg in comparison to the prevailing market price of`` 225± 25/kg. The willingness to pay a higher price for other attributes varied from ` 400/kg to ` 280/kg. Out of the five determinants, two, viz ‘taste and preferences’ and ‘nutrition’ have been found statistically significant. And therefore regression analysis has been carried out for these two variables using Tobit model

Strategies for Augmenting Sea Food Revenue: Beyond 2020

India is, the second largest fish producer in the world with a total production of 13.7 million metric tonnes (2018-19) showing a consistent growth in the total gross value added with one percent GDP contribution and providing meaningful employment to 14 million people across the value chain in harvesting, processing, packaging, and distribution. Fish and fish products have presently emerged as the largest group in agricultural exports from India, with 1.37 million tonnes in terms of quantity and Rs. 45,106.89 crore in value which accounts for around 10% of the total exports and 5.23% to the Ag - GVA of the country

Climate Change Hotspots, Vulnerability Assessments and Resilience Options - Lessons From India

Climate change is a global challenge today, with its impacts felt worldwide. The coastal regions around globe are more prone to the impacts of climate change than the inlands, fishing being one of the primary occupations of the coast, the fishermen community is the most vulnerable group to be affected by the Climate change. Even with extensive scientific research in this arena there is a lacuna in finding a panacea to this existing problem. Coastal environments cover 8 per cent of the world‟s surface, house 70 per cent of the human population, provide 90 per cent of the global fish catch, and deliver 40 per cent of the estimated economic value derived from ecosystem goods and services. In addition to increasing population pressure and demand for marine protein, climate change is modifying coastal environments and increasing the vulnerability of marine-dependent communities around the world. The effect of sea level rise means that coastal fishing communities are vulnerable and are in the front line of the deleterious effects of climate change. Changing seawater temperature and current flows will likely bring increases, decreases and shifts in the distribution of marine fish stocks, with some areas benefiting while others lose. These changes may have impacts on the nature and value of commercial fisheries. Many artisanal fishers are extremely poor with social and political marginalization with limited access to healthcare, education and other public services. With little capacity to adapt, the small-scale and migrant fishers are highly vulnerable to losses of natural capital consequent to climate impacts. The impacts of climate change affect the economy as well the social standards of fisher folk with implications for food security and sustainable livelihoods. Thus the climate change effects impact the environment, fishery, social, economic and development drivers. Consequently, it is important to understand factors that contribute to vulnerability of coastal biological and human systems in order to develop sustainable adaptation pathways; and develop effective mechanisms and expertise to translate findings into management guidelines and policy advice addressing natural, social and economic implications. Globally each government are looking for pragmatic time-bound strategies and plans for mitigation and adaptation

Demand pattern and willingness to pay for high value fish consumption: Case study from selected coastal cities in Kerala, south India

Fishing occupies an important place in the economy of Kerala State, south India as a vital source of food and protein, avenue for employment and most importantly in the export market. Kerala’s population is basically a fish eating population where the level of fish consumption is four times the national average. The annual per capita fish consumption has increased from 15 kg in 1970s to about 23 kg in 2011. The high value fishes like shrimps, squids, seerfishes and pomfrets are massively exported due to economies of scale, thereby leading to limited local availability resulting in high domestic prices. The present study assessed the fish intake pattern across 600 middle income consumer households of urban area in the metropolitan cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode in Kerala. The average family size was found to be 4.2. The study concentrated on income cum expenditure pattern, buying trend, hindrances in fish consumption and readiness to pay for high value fishes. Willingness to pay was figured out using logit model. The results indicated that the income and access to the selling points of fish enhanced the demand. The per capita montly fsh consumption was found to be 2.2 kg with low value per capita fish consumption estimated at 1.43 kg and average high value per capita fish consumption at 0.77 kg across study areas. The fish food consumption pattern trends across the different study locales clearly portrayed that there exists significant demand for high value fish and fish products. Most local consumers weren’t aware about low export price and more than 50% expressed their willingness to pay which indicated existence of a high consumer surplus. Resutls of the study stressed the need for governmental intervention in controlling fish exports thereby safeguarding local fish food security, replacing exports with local marketing; considering the demand for sizeable quantum and ample readiness to pay