Madras Fisheries Harbour is one of the largest fisheries harbours in the east coast ofIndia. It provides base for mechanised as well as indigenous fishing crafts. It is estimated that 480 trawlers, 20 mechanised gill netters,

25 motorised and 200 nonmotorised catamarans make use of this harbour. The annual fish landings in 1995 were 38.251

tonnes; the trawlers contributing 96.1% of the landings

Vivekanandan, E

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No. 143 URCEalAEEIl MARINE FISHERIES INFORMATION SERVICE JUNE, JULY, AUGUST 1996 T X ^ TECHNICAL AND ^c=ft EXTENSION SERIES • I CENTRAL MARINE FISHERIES 3T5^STPT ^^t^«rr^ RESEARCH INSTITUTE cblPclH, ^TTTTT COCHIN, INDIA INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH MADRAS FISHERIES HARBOUR - A STATUS REPORT FOR 1995 B. Vivekanandan Madras Research Centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Madras - 600 006 Madras Fisheries Harbour is one of the largest fisheries harbours In the east coast of India. It provides base for mechanised as well as indigenous fishing crafts. It is estimated that 480 trawlers, 20 mechanised gill netters, 25 motorised and 200 nonmotorised catamarans make use of this harbour. The annual fish landings in 1995 were 38.251 tonnes; the trawlers contributing 96.1% of the landings. Trawlers The 480 trawlers are of three different length categories, viz. 32', 36' and 40-45', with horse-power ranging between 65 and 120. The small trawlers (32 and 36') are engaged in daily voyage or occasionally undertake 2 day voyage and operate between Pudhupatnam (south of Madras) sind Sriharikota (north of Madras) in 15-40 m depth. The larger trawlers (40-45') conduct voyages lasting upto 6 days off Nizampatnam, which is 315 km northeast of Madras (Fig. 1). The depth of operation of the larger trawlers is 15-60 m (Table 1). The trawl effort (Fig. 2) and landings (Fig. 3), particularly those of the larger trawlers increased over the years. In 1995, about 56% of the total trawl effort (fishing hours) and 59% of the total landings were by the larger trawlers. The smaller trawlers are being phased out gradually. Addition of larger trawlers to the fleet has enabled intensification of fishing in the hitherto underexploited areas. However, most of the trawling activity was restricted to depth within 50 m. The trawlers spent only 7.8% of the total effort in depth beyond 50 m and regdised 10.0% of the total landings (Table 2). 19 TABLE 1. Operational details of fishing vessels in Madras Fisheries Harbour in 1995 Parameters Number of boats Engine horsepower Duration of voyage Area of operation Distance from shore (km) Depth (m) Gear Fishing hour/unit , Fishing effort in depth > 50 m (% of total effort) No. of hauls/unit Duration of haul (h) Manpower/unit Diesel (1/day) Ice (t/unlt) Flshhold capacity (t) P.patnam = Pudhupa 32' 100 65 12h P. patnam S.harikota tnam 5-18 15-40 6-9 Nil 2-3 3 5 150 0.3 0.5 Trawler 36' 80 90 24h P. patnam K.patnam 5-20 15-80 Shrimp trawl 15-18 5 6 3 5-6 150 0.75 0.75 K.patnam = Rrishnapatn 40-46' 300 120 4-6 days off N. patnam 5-15 15-60 30-50 10 12-20 3-5 6 200 3 5 am, N Gillnetter 20 60 48h Madras-S.harikota 8-20 40-80 Drift net 24 50 2 12 5-6 150 0.3 0.5 Motorised Catamaran Bag, net 1.5 Nil 2-3 0.5 16 25 6-10 8h off Madras 2-5 <15 trammel, net 1.5 Nil 2-3 0.5 3 Nor Cat >-motorised amaran 200 6h Madras-Pulicat gill net 3-6 Nil 2-3 1.5 3 patnam = Nizampatnam, S.harikota 2-3 >15 hook & line 5-7 NU 2-3 2 3 = Sriharikota The catch/h increased upto 1991 (110.8 kg/h) subsequently, it declined sharply and was only 48.3 kg/h in 1995 (Fig. 4). The long voyage trawlers discarded 2,671 t of trash fish in 1995, which is equivalent to about Rs. 0.5 crore. The daily voyage trawlers landed the entire catch. In the coastal area between Pudhupatnam and Nizampatnam, the area between 15 and 50 m depth (4,000 sq. km) is being fully exploited by the Madras based trawlers. As the yield per fishing intensity is higher in the depth more than 50 m (98.7 kg/sq.km/OOOh) compared to depth less than 50 m (11.8 kg/sq.km/OOOh) (Table 4), there is considerable scope to increase the trawling effort beyond 50 m. However, less abundance of shrimps in depth beyond 50 m has forced the trawl operators to restrict fishing in depth less than 50 m. In 1996, the tendency of the fishermen is to venture further north of Nizampatnam rather than fish in the deeper waters. Gillnetters There are only 20 mechanised vessels which operate drift gill net. The fishing area of these vessels is between Madras and Sriharikota (Table 1). The effort, catch and ca tch/h have increased over the years. During 1984-'86 the annual average effort, catch and catch/h were 20,808 h, 270 t and 13.0 kg/h, respectively and in 1995, the corresponding estimates were 47,568 h, 822 t and 17.3 kg/h. In 1995, about 50% of the landings was from depth more than 50 m. Considering the number performance (Table 2) and operational income (Table 3), the number of drift gill netters could be substantially increased. 20 TABLE 2. Effort and catch of mechanised ijessels in Madras Fisheries Harbour during 1995 80" 81° Fig. 1. Fishing areas of Madras based vessels. a. Area under trawling (4650 sq.km), b. Areas under Intensive trawling (1250 sq.km) by small and large trawlers c. Area under mechanized gill net fishing (270 sq.km), d. Area under artisanal fishing (40 sq.km). Catamaran During the past 15 years a few artisanal gears were introduced and a few others were phased out. Trammel net and pannu valai (gill net) were introduced; madha valai (bag net), ara valai and irukka valai (gill nets) and boat seine were also phased out. The effort of eda valai (bag net), kavaJa valai (gill net) and hooks & line increased. The annual landings increased from 239 t (1980-'83) to 682 t (1995; Table 5). Parameters Trawler Total Gillnetter Effort Daily voyage Number of vessels 180 Number of units Fishing hours <50m >50m Total Total catch Landings (t) • <50m depth >50m depth Total Catch/unit (kg) Catch/h (kg) <50m depth >50m depth Mean Trash per unit (kg) t/year 43,963 3,13,500 (95.0%) 16,500 (5.0%) 330,000 13,869 (92.5%) 1,125 (7.5%) 14,994 341 44.2 68.2 45.4 60 2,638 % in total landings 17.5 Discard per unit (kg) t/year Nil Nil % in total landings Nil Long voyage 300 10.684 3,84,624 (90.0%) 42,736 (10.0%) 427,360 19,077 (87.7%) 2,676 (12.3%) 21,753 2,036 49.6 62.6 50.9 250 2,671 12.3 250 2,671 12.3 480 54,647 6,98,124 (92.2%) 59,236 (7.8%) 757.360 32,946 (89.7%) 3,801 (10.3%) 36,747 5,309 14.4 250 2,671 7.3 20 1,982 23,784 (50.0%) 23,784 (50.0%) 47,568 411 (50.0%) 411 (50.0%) 822 415 17.3 17.3 17.3 Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil 700 600-500 400 8 0 3 0 0 uZOO - I ' ? o 100 84 86 88 Y E 90 R 92 94 Fig. 2. Estimated annuaJ effort of trawlers at Madras. Inset: The increasing effort of long voyage trawlers. All the lines are eyefits. 21 TABLE 3. Value of fish landiiigs from mechanised vessels in Madras Fisheries Harbour during 1995 TABLE 4. Area of trawling and yield/fishing intensity of Madras based commercial trawlers Parameters Value (Rs.) Trawler Daily voyage Long voyage Total Gillnetter Depth (m) 15- 50 50-100 15-100 Potential area of trawling (sq.km) 4,000 2,170 6,170 Area under trawling (sq.km) 4,000 650 4,650 Fishing Yield/fishing intensity intensity (kg)* (h/sq.km) 174.5 11.8 91.1 98.7 162.9 10.4 of catch/kg 18 34 52 45 Average value of trash/kg 2 2 4 Fish sale/unit 5,058 60,724 65,782 18,675 Trash sale/unit 120 500 620 Total annual scale (In crores) 22.8 65.4 88.2 3.7 Annual discard (Rs. In crores) NU 0.5 0.5 Nil Operational expenses/unit (Rs.) Diesel & oil 1,500 10,000 Ice 200 2,000 Labour Total 11,500 1,500 2,200 350 932 11,020 11,952 3,735 (18% of total sale) (20% of sale) 2,632 23,020 25,652 5,585 Operational income/unit (Rs.) 2,546 38,204 40,750 13,090 Fig. 3. Estimated annual landings of trawlers at Madras. Inset: The increasing contribution of long voyage trawlers. All the lines are eyefits. • Yield = Catch (kg)/(trawling area (sq.km) x effort (OOOh)) TABLE 5. Effort, catch and operational income of catamarans in Madras Fislwries Harbour during 1995 Parameters Bag Trammel Gill nets Hooks & Total net net Kavala Pannu line ualai vakd Effort Number of units Fishing hours Catch Catch (t) Catch/unit (kg) Catch/h (kg) Fish sale (Rs.) Value of catch/kg Annual sale/unit Annual sale (Rs. in lakhs) Ubour (50% of sale) Operational income/ Unit (Rs. in lakhs) 2,326 3,489 440 189 126 15 2,835 65.9 1,417 1,417 1,055 1,583 4 4 2.5 50-350 800 8.4 400 400 1,888 5,664 64 34 11 6 204 3.9 102 102 5,528 22,112 138 25 6 15 374 20.7 187 187 3,033 18,200 36 12 2 50 600 18.2 300 300 13,830 31,048 682 264 147.5 4,813 117.1 2,406 2,406 Fig. 4. Catch (kg/h) of t rawlers based a t Madras . The line is eyeflt. 22 TABLE 6. Summary of the quantity and value of the landings Other major developments are motorisation in Madras Fisheries Harbour during 1995 ^f catamaran in the 1990s and introduction of flbreglass boats in 1995. Due to the large scale expansion of the trawl fleet the contribution of the artlsanal sector to the total landings has declined. During 1980-'83 the trawlers contributed 93.7%, gill netters 2.4% and artisanal crafts 3.9% to the total landings. In 1995 the trawlers contributed 96.1%, gillnetters 2 .1% and artisanal crafts 1.8% (Table 6). Parameters Landings (t) Landings from depth >50m (%) Discard (t) Value (Rs. in crores) Trawl 36,747 (96.1%) 10.3 2,671 (7.3%) 88.2 (94.7%) Gill net 822 (2.1%) 50.0 Nil 3.7 (4.0%) Artisanal 682 (1.8%) 0.0 Nil 1.2 (1.3%) Total 38,251 10.9 2,671 (7.3%) 93.1 23 

Madras Fisheries Harbour - A status report for 1995

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Madras Fisheries Harbour - A status report for 1995

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