The green mussel, Pema viridis, constitutes a sustenance fishery in India, particularly along

the Malabar Coast. The paper deals with the distribution, extent of mussel beds, exploited resources,

total stock and the man power employed in the fishery along the Kerala coast from Calicut to

Cannanors and Karnataka coast from Bhatkal to Majali. In the Callcut-Cannanore area fishery Is from

August to June and the catch is estimated at 3043 t, 3074 t and 2596 t during 1981-82, 1S82-83

and 1983'84, respectively. The mussels tanged in length from 20-129 mm. The total man power

employed Is assessed as 685 in the Callcut-Cannanore area, of which 325 are traditional full time

mussel divers and the rest are part time mussel divers, The seed resources varied from 4.57 to

6.52 kg/m- In December 1983 and the size of the seeds ranged from 10-40 mm. There is no

regular commercial fishery in the Bhatkal-Majall area. The paper also deals with the constraints

and prospects for development of the mussel fishery

Kuriakose, P S

Sivadasan, M P

Surendranath, V G

CMFRI Digital Repository

6 . FISHERY A N D RESOURCE OF GREEN MUSSEL, PERNAVIRIDIS. A L O N G T H E W E S T C O A S T OF INDIA p. S. Kuriakose, M. P. Sivadasan and V. G. Surendranathan Central Marine Fisheries fiesearcti Institute, Coctiin-682 031. ABSTRACT The green mussel, Pema viridis, constitutes a sustenance fishery in India, particularly along the Malabar Coast. The paper deals with the distribution, extent of mussel beds, exploited resources, total stock and the man power employed in the fishery along the Kerala coast from Calicut to Cannanors and Karnataka coast from Bhatkal to Majali. In the Callcut-Cannanore area fishery Is from August to June and the catch is estimated at 3043 t, 3074 t and 2596 t during 1981-82, 1S82-83 and 1983'84, respectively. The mussels tanged in length from 20-129 mm. The total man power employed Is assessed as 685 in the Callcut-Cannanore area, of which 325 are traditional full time mussel divers and the rest are part time mussel divers, The seed resources varied from 4.57 to 6.52 kg/m- In December 1983 and the size of the seeds ranged from 10-40 mm. There is no regular commercial fishery in the Bhatkal-Majall area. The paper also deals with the constraints and prospects for development of the mussel fishery. INTRODUCTION Hornell (1917. 1922) and Jones (1950, 1968) provided an account of the sea mussel resources of India. Later Jones and Alagar-swami (1973) gave a more detailed account of the resources and magnitude of the mussel fishery. The settlement and colonisation by the juveniles of the green mussel and their resources on the stone embankments and groynes along the central coast of Kerala was delt by Nair et al (1975). The paper deals with the results of the investigations carried out on the fishery resources of green mussel along the Karnataka coast from Majali to Bhatkal and Kerala coast from Cannanore to Calicut during 1981-82 to 1983-84. DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT OF MUSSEL BEDS very low sustenance scale was noticed only ... , o . . , . . , , at 3 centres namely Karwar, Harwada and The green mussel, Perna viridis is found T j • TU * . • \ ^ t • u j • . I- J . .1. • . .-J I J .. J Tadri. The total extent of mussel beds along attached to the intertidal and submerged . . . „ » . .- ^ . c u , , . . , „ . ^ . . . . . . this coast i s estimated as 5 ha. rocks along the West Coast of India in varying densities (Fig. 1 ). Its distribution The Coast of Kerala from Cannanore to along the Karnataka Coast from Majali to Calicut is the virtual mussel zone of India, Bhatkal is much dispersed and patchy. where the abundance and exploitation are Mussel beds are found in Majali, Karwar, quite high. In this zone dense and extensive Kuramgat Islands in the Karwar bay, Binage, mussel beds are found in Azhikkal, Canna-Chendia, Harwada, Gabithwada, Manjuguni, nore, Mythanappally, Koduvally, Tellicherry, Tadri and Bhatkal. Mussel fishery, on a Thalai, Mahe, Chombala, Mutungal, Badagarar 24 CMFRI TABLE 1 Extent of musssl beds and estimated annual production at different centres in the Cannanore Calicut area. Extent of mussel Average weight of Total estimated Centres beds (ha) mussels per Sq.m (kg) stock (t) (kg) Challlum-Calicut 80 3.0 2,400 Elathur-Kappad (poyilkavu) 75 2.25 1,687 Kollam-Thikkokdi 240 2.5 6,000 Badagara-Chombala 40 4.5 1,800 Mahe-Thalai 40 4.0 1,600 Theliicherry-Koduvally 80 3.0 2,400 Total 555 — 15,887 Thikkodi, Moodadi, Kollam, Kappad, Elathur' South Beach and Challium. Mussels occur on coastal rocks from intertidal zone to 4 km into the sea where the depth is about 12 m. Exploitation is normally restricted to the upper 5 m in view of the abundance of mussels upto this depth and limitation of physical endurance of the divers. The extent of the mussel beds from Cannanore to Calicut and the production from the natural beds are presented in Table 1 The esti-mates were made in September 1983. Total extent of the beds was estimated at 555 hectares, excluding the intertidal area due to the non-availability of mussels there at the time of observations. MUSSEL FISHERY AND PRODUCTION The mussel fishery along the Malabar and Karnataka coast is of a sustenance MANPOWER OR UNIT OF EFFORT EMPLOYED nature. The fishery has gained importance IN THE MUSSEL FISHERY and an organised trade exists with a con- The average catch by a man per day's centrated market in Ca cut. The musse ,• u- j j • ^ „ divers reach the mussel beds either by ' ' ^ ' " ^ '^ considered as one unit of effort, swimming or by canoes (Fig 2) depending '" " ^ ' Karnataka coast from Majali to Bhatkal on the distance of the beds from the shore ^^ P^*"'""' ^'® engaged in the mussel fishery and collect the mussels either by hand o" Paft time basis. In the Cannanore-Calicut picking or with sharp tool like chisel. Each '^'®^ ^^^ persons are engaged full time and diver has a net bag tied around his waist another 360 on part time (Table 2) . These in which he keeps the collected mussels. persons hail from 16 centres and a maximum of Women and children collect mussels from 155 parsons from Elathur followdd by 153 from the intertidal rocks (Fig. 3) Calicut. BULLETIN 42 25 TABLE 3 Estimates of green mussel production (annual landing in tonnes), total annual 1 effort and average catch per effort (in kg) during the years 1981-82 to 1983-84 in Calicut-Cannanore zone. Year Catch Effort Catch per in t unit effort • (kg) 1981-82 3043.9 50397 60 4 1982-83 3074.2 61005 50.4 1983-84 2596.8 58557 44.3 ited from different centres ranged from 20-129 mm (Fig 6) and the size of the bull< of the catches ranged from 50-90 mm. In March, smaller length groups ranging from 45-65 mm are also abundant along with the larger groups around 90 mm. In the Majaii-Bhatkal area the fishing season is from April to June. The production from this zone is estimated as 36.5 t in 1982-83. Fig. 6 : Monthly avaraga catch of green mussel during the fishery season from 1981-82 to 1983- 84 from different centres In tha Cannanore-Callcut area In general the traditfonal full time mussel divers along the Malabar Coast are fromElathur. They move with their canoes to different centres for mussel picking depending upon the avail-ability of mussels in the natural beds. In Oct-ober their concentration is in Mahe. In December the mussel divers move to Challium & South Beach and Thikkodi, In January the exploitation is more in Thikoodi and Koduvally The estimates of production, total effort and the catch per unit of effort in the Cannanore-Calicut zone for the years 1981-82 to 1983-84 are presented in Table 3. The production was estimated at 3043.0 t, 3074.2 t and 2596.8 t for the years 1 9 8 1 - 8 2 , 1 9 8 2 - 8 3 and 1 9 8 3 - 8 4 res- Fig. 6 : size range and model values of mussel ^ . ! , ,„ i , , Ti ,« ,.»..,aer.,«nr4inn t^tt^.* ^'^r^o.r^A^A Bxploltod during different months of the fishery pectively. The corresponding effort expended season from 1981-82 to 1983-84. to obtain the catch was 50377, 61005 and 58557 units. The catch per unit of effort for j ^ e length of the exploited mussels ranged from the above years worked out to 60,4,50.4 and 40-100 mm. The total stock trom a 5 ha area 44.3 kg. The length of the green mussel expio- of mussel beds in this zone fs estimated at 2061. BULLETIN 42 27 TABLE 4 The graenmusse/ seed resources from 7 centres along the Malabar Coast in December 1983. Total number/m^ kg/m^ Length range Mode (mm) (mm) Challium 2055 4.90 1 4 - 4 0 25—29 South Beach 1547 4,57 2 0 - 4 0 25 -29 Elathur 6225 6.25 10 -35 2 0 - 2 4 Moodadi & Thikkodi 3750 5.72 12—36 2 0 - 2 4 Chombala 1715 4.90 12—40 2 5 - 2 9 Mahe 3595 6.52 12—38 25—29 Koduvally 2825 5.17 12—35 2 0 - 2 4 The total stock for the Cannanore-Calicut Ratnagiri to South Kanara was estimated as 15 5 area of mussel beds in this zone is estimated at t and from Calicut to Cannanore as 290 t (Jones 15,887 t from an area of 555 ha of mussel beds and Alagarswami 1973). The present study (Table 1). The density per square meter ranged showed an increase in production of two and a from 2 25-4.5 kg of mussels, ^^'^ ^'""^^ ^^ ^^^ ^°''^^' ^"d ^®" ^'""^^ ^^ the latter area. Jones and Alagarswami (1973) • X J * ~. estimated that 170 canoes and 10 logs are The mussel seed resources estimated from . . . . . . ^ ^ ,• . x 1. . . . , . . . • „ deployed m the Cannanore-Calicut zone for 7 centres in the Cannanore-Calicut zone in , . •• T.. ^ .. _. : . . . ..r ... , -r,- J •. * mussel picking. The present study showed 1983 i? presented in Table 4. The density of . . ^. . . \ , . ^ . .u J • J * «„, iK /n •« considerable increase in the craft also. The seeds in the natural beds varied from 1547 to ! ^ „ , . . . . . >,,--,. e d 1 *i'9h density of seed observed in the Cannanore-6225 numbers per m^ weighing 4.57 to 6.52 kg • x . . • y u a Kc. I a a a Calicut zone is encouraging for taking up l^rge and their length ranged from 10-40 mm. The „„ . ^ .* • , .u-r " ** scale mussel farming along this coast. maximum density in numbers was noticed at Elathur. In the Majali-Bhatkal area the mussel $eed was noticed at 3 centres namely Karwar, At present mussels are marketed fresh Harwada and Tadri in 1983. The total area of without depuration. Simple and effective de-the seed bed was 150m2 at Harwada, BOm^ at puratlon techniques should be developed to Tadri and 20m^ at Karwar. The density of seeds maintain the quality of mussels before marketing. varied from 6,000-10,000/m* in December 1983 There is also need for enlarging the consumer and their length ranged from 8-16 mm. sector through vigorous extension drive of the proposed products so that the fishermen get DISCUSSION better remuneration for the catch. It is seen from the earlier reports of Jones (1950, 1968), Jones and Alagarswami (1973) As the mussel resources are small the and Rao et al (1975) that the green mussel re- developmental effort in future should be sources and their fishery along the west coast towards increasing the production of mussels of India is restricted to a few rocky patches through farming, particularly in view of the except in the Cannanore-Calicut zone along the fact that the yield by culture is very high Kerala Coast. The production of mussels from (Kuriakosa 1980). 28 CMFRI REFERENCES HORNELL, J. 1917. The edible molluscs of the Madras Presidency. Madras Fish. Bull., 11 ; 1-57. HORNELL, J. 1922. Common molluscs of South India./W»£/ra* Fish. Bull., 14 (1921) ; 95-215. JONES, S. 1950. Observations on the biono-mics and fishery of the brown mussel (Mytilus sp.) of the Cape region of peninsular India. J. fiomi&aK nat. Hist. Soc, 49 (3) : 519-528. JONES, S 1968. The mussel fishery of the West Coast of India. Seafood Exporter^ 3 : 21-28. JONES, S. AND K. ALAGARSWAMI. 1973. Mussel fishery resources of India. Proc Symp. Living Resources. Seas India, Special publication, 641-647, KURIAKOSE, P. S. 1980. Open sea raft culture of mussels-In : Mussel Farming. Bull Cent. Mar. Fish. Res, Inst., 29 : 33-38. NAIR, R.V., K.N. NAYAR AND S. MAHADEVAN. 1975. On the large-scale collection of the spat of mussel, Mytilus viridis, in Cochin region. Indian J. Fish., 22 t 236-242 RAO, K. V , L K. KUMARI AND S. N. DWIVEDI, 1975. Biology of the green mussels, Mytilus viridis. Indian J. MarSci., A : 189-197. 

Fishery and resource of green mussel, Perna viridis along the west coast of India

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Fishery and resource of green mussel, Perna viridis along the west coast of India

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