The Directorate of Fisheries Lakshadweep took its origin

in 1959 as a small organisation headed by a Fisheries Officer

and assisted by a couple of fisheries inspectors, making a

significant turn in the history of fisheries development in the

islands. The exploitation and proper management of fisheries

resources to improve the economic condition of local inhabitants

was the primary objective. Geographically scattered

nature and remoteness of the islands turned out to be real

hurdles in the implementation of fishery development schemes.

During the sixtees, fishing had been by primitive methods of

harpooning, confined to the lagoon and reef areas. Tuna

was not caught in any island except Minicoy and the fish

catch was insufficient even for domestic consumption. Inhabitants

were illiterate and with poor socio-economic set up

Varghese, George

CMFRI Digital Repository

40 YEARS OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN MARINE FISHERIES IN INDIA A Souvenir issued at the National Symposium on Research and Development in Marine Fisheries held at Mandapam Camp, 16-18 September 1987, to mark the 40th Anniversary of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin (fiu/ian Council of Agricultural Research) P. B. No. 2704, E. R. G. Road, Cochin-682 031 Department of Fisheries, Lakshadweep AN OVERVIEW The Directorate of Fisheries Lakshadweep took its origin in 1959 as a small organisation headed by a Fisheries Officer and assisted by a couple of fisheries inspectors, making a significant turn in the history of fisheries development in the islands. The exploitation and proper management of fisheries resources to improve the economic condition of local inhabit-ants was the primary objective. Geographically scattered nature and remoteness of the islands turned out to be real hurdles in the implementation of fishery development schemes. During the sixtees, fishing had been by primitive methods of harpooning, confined to the lagoon and reef areas. Tuna was not caught in any island except Minicoy and the fish catch was insufficient even for domestic consumption. Inha-bitants were illiterate and with poor socio-economic set up. The various fisheries developmental schemes imple-mented by the Deot. of Fisheries during the course of last 25 years have brought out drastic changes in the fisheries sector. Introduct'on of mechanised boats, training of local men in the modern fishing method and handling of boats, setting up of infrastructural facilities, experimental and demonstration fishing, issue of fishery requisites on subsidy, establishment of fish processing plants, etc were the important scheme launched. Pole-and-line fishing prevalent in Minicoy with rowing boats was mechanised and was popularised in other islands. New designs of fishing craft to suit the area and different types of fishing were experimented and the most ideal type was identified and introduced to the industry with remarkable success, all during the course of last two decades. The policy adopted was a practice-oriented ap-proach to provide the maximum benefit to the fishermen with minimum input. The fisheries developmental activities thus undertaken by the department have made significant impact on the socio-economic conditions of the people. F r^om a meagre 500 tonnes in 1960 the fish catch had risen to 6000 tonnes by 1986. The value of export of dried fish rose from Rs. 11,2 lakhs in 1972 to Rs. 1.5 crores in 1985. In the place of small conventional country craft, there are now more than 300 mechanised boats doing fishing. Emergence of 4 islands hitherto new to the trade as potential pole-and-line fish-ing centres is indeed a remarkable achievement. The ave-rage catch of a pole-and-line fishing boat is 70 tonnes, worth Rs. 2.7 lakhs in a year of 6 months fishing. The income per fisherman works out to Rs. 15,000/-. The establishment of anciallary industries such as boatbuilding yards, canning fac-tory, workshops, etc have provided additional source of em-ployment with lucrative income. The low-cost diversified fish-ing methods such as troll line, long line and gill nets intro-duced are being profitably employed in islands like Andrott and Amini where there is no scope for pole-and-line fishing. FUNCTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT 1) Construction and issue of mechanised boats to fishermen 2) Management of two boatbuilding yards 3) Management of one canning factory 4) Management of 11 workshops 5) Management of marine aquarium and museum 6) Management of fishermen training centre 7) Experimental and demonstration fishing 8) Supply of fishery requisites, diesel oil and spare parts 9) Collection and processing of fishlandings data 10) Studies on the improvement of craft and gear 11) Marketing of tuna cans 12) Diversification in fishing 50 rile skipjack of Lakshadweep The island womea have been (rained on more effective methods of filleting tuna under hygienic conditions POLE AND LINE FISHING Pole-and-Iine is the important commercial fishing gear for the surface fishery for tuna. In the Indian ocean this is being employed in Lakshadweep, Maldives, Sri Lanka, nor-thern Madagascar and southeast of Australia. At present a fleet of 120 Nos. of 7.62 metres long me-chanised boats fitted with 14-16 HP inboard diesel engines are under regular pole-and^line fishing operation in Laksha-dweep, landing 5000 tonnes of tuna annually. The boat carries live bait, which is an integral part of pole-and-line fishing. The gear is simple, consisting of a straight and strong bamboo pole about 4 metres long with a diameter of about 3 cm at the base. A line equivalent to the length of the pole is tied at the tip of the pole. The end of the line carries a barbless hook. The success of the fishery depends on various factors, viz availability of live baits, skill of the fishermen, knowledge of the behaviour pattern of tunas, etc. Live bait chumming and water spraying are the two techniques em-ployed for aggregating tuna shoals around the fishing boat. As soon as fish shoals are around the stern, the hook on the pole is put in the water. When the weight of the fish is felt on the pole, the fish is lifted above the boat and, with a jerk on the pole, the fish is dropped on board. If the fisher-men are skilled and tuna shoals are in good biting mood the fishing could be so fast that it would make a spectacular sight. DEVELOPMENT OF TUNA FISHING Currently, the tuna fishery in India is limited to the small-scale fishery sector of a few coastal states and Union Terri-tory of Lakshadweep. Lakshadweep, a group of coral islands in the Arabian sea, has got the distinction of being the only region in India where an organised tuna fishery is in vogue. Lakshadweep waters support a fishable stock of one lakh tonnes of tuna. Against this, the present exploitation is 5000 tonnes annually, forming 75% of its total marine fish catch and 16% of the total tuna catch, of India. Pole and line is the principal gear employed. The craft used consist of 7.62 meters pablo boats fitted with 12-16 HP inboard engines. Out of the four pole-and-line fishing centres, Agatti island is the most important, contributing 46% of the total tuna landed in Lakshadweep. The annual CPUE in 1986 for Agatti was 483 kg. The main species contributing to the fishery is skipjack (75%) followed by yellowfin (10%) . INTRODUCTION OF PAY AW A fish aggregating device known as 'Payaw', fabricated and installed by the Dept. during 1981, proved very good in Lakshadweep waters. The FAD is made by welding 200-litre capacity empty oil drums in a metal frame. The bottom portion is rigged with coconut leaves and the whole structure is anchored in selected spots in the sea.with the aid of barrels filled with rock and cement. Two such aggregators were set up, one at south of Kavaratti and the other at south-west of Agatti. The installation sites were selected after a 52 thorough echo sounding survey. Both the payaws aggregate fish shoals and the spots serve the fishermen as ready source for fish catch. The fish caught oft' the payaws include not only tuna but also rainbow runner, dolphin fish, etc. The device is quite attractive to fishermen as they do not have to waste time and to spend expensive fuel searching fish shoals. BOATBUILDING The programme of mechanisation was launched by the Etept. in order to step up fish production by the exploitation of the rich fishery wealth of the islands waters, especially tuna and shark. Two boatbuilding yards set up, one at Kava-ratti and the other at Chetlat, could successfully meet the entire requirement of mechanised boats needed for Laksha-dweep fishing industry. In addition to fishing boats, boats required for shipping works and tourism are also con-structed and supplied by these yards. Boats of sizes 7.62 metres, 9.14 metres and 11.6 metres are being constructed in these yards. During the last two decades 247 Nos of boats have been launched from these two yards. During the year 1977 the yards supplied pole-and-line fishing boats to Anda-man and Nicobar islands also. TUNA CANNING Setting up a canning factory in Minicoy in 1969 was a milestone in the development of Lakshadweep. Till 1969 the entire tuna caught in Lakshadweep was being processed into a traditional product called 'mas', which nevertheless has a shelf life of about a year. The establishment of the canning factory Payaw, an ingenious device made out of empty oil drums and coconut leaves, was erected one at Kavaratti and one at Agatti 53 Lakshadweep tuna canning factory in Minicoy made possible the introduction of a sophisticated product out of tuna acceptable both at home and at foreign market. To the fishermen of Minicoy, the factory serves as a centre for ready disposal of their catch. The installed capa-city of the factory is 10000 cans per day. It is also attached with an ice factory of 5 tonnes capacity and a cold storage of 20 tonnes capacity. Four varieties of cans arc produced here, viz, Tuna solid pack in oil. Tuna solid pack in brine, Tuna flakes in oil and Tuna flakes in brine. The present production is around 1 lakh cans annually. The factory pro-vides employment to 50 persons. In spite of various con-straints, the factory was able to achieve the production target every year. east coasts of-India and Sree Lanka. The annual production of mas in Lakshadweep is 500 tonnes, worth Rs. 1.5 crores. MECHANICAL SPRAYER FOR POLE-AND-LINE FISHING The mechanical water spraying system developed and introduced by the department in 1984 replaces handspray-ing in pole-and-line fishing. The experiment with this device in 1984 was a great success. Besides saving labour costs, this has improved the efficiency of the gear considerably. Now polc-and-line fishermen at Agatti are clamouring for mecha-nical sprayer. 'MAS' 'Mas' is the most popular product made out of tuna in Lakshadweep, 90% of the tuna caught in islands are pro-cessed into this traditional product. This product resembling the Katswobhushi of Japan l.t.as a shelf life of about a year and exceflcnt taste and is popular in southwest and south-SHARK RESOURCES Lakshadweep waters support a rich and sustained fishery for shark, with^8% average hooking rate. The average weight of one shark is 54 kg, making shark fishing highly profitable. In recent years longline fishery for shark has become a fast graowing enterprise. 54 A Lakshadweep boatbuilding yard PEARL OYSTER CULTURE Culture of pearl oysters on experimental basis was started in Lakshadweep in the year 1981. The spat required for the culture were collected from the reefs during lowtide. Since they are rare in the island, the pearl oysters were brougt from the Tuticorin centre of CMFRL The oysters are being reared in plastic baskets suspended from rafts moored in the lagoon at Bangaram island. The technology for the cul-ture and production of pearl was obtained from CMFRL The first nucleus implantation operation was carried out suc-cessfully in 1983. So far four cultured pearls of size 4 mm to 7 mm have been produced. Experiments are being carried out to make it a viable venture. MARINE AQUARIUM AND MUSEUM The marine museum and aquarium set up at Kavaratti island in 1983 is one of the outstanding of its kind in India and houses approximately 1500 organisms in preserved and live forms. The complex environment natural to the coral A boat under completio.! 55 islands gives rise to an equally complex fauna, quite different from that of mainland. An excellent display of these fascinat-ing fauna has made the museum swanky. Tropical coral fishes reared in 12 aquaria tanks form the most spectacular exhi-bit. The visitor would feel as if taken to an aquatic world where the forms of life are mysterious and lovely. Chaeto-dontidae Scorpinidae, Acanthuridae, Pomacanthidae Ostra-dontidae and Tetrodontidae are the important families re-presenting in the aquaria. Preserved specimens, models of craft and gear, underwater paintings, etc are other exhibits adding to the spectacle. This establishment has now become the major centre of attraction in Lakshadweep, offering for tourism, education and research. Every year, lots of students are brought to the museum from mainland as part of their curriculam. The museum stands as an index of the dedicat-ed efforts and professional competence of the department of fisheries Lakshadweep. I nSHCRttS =fe,l«i* : /• ^ '^'•^^0:.., FUTURE PROGRAMMES Tuna fishing is the mainstay of the islands. Efforts taken by the Dept. to improve the efficiency of pole-and-line gear has given fruitful results. The small-scale tuna fishing now existing in the islands can be further developed by increasing the strength of the boats and by making improvements in craft and gear, post-harvest technology and marketing. It is proposed to operate a mother vessel to enhance the range of operation of smaller boats. COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATIONS OF TUNA In order to exploit the bulk of the tuna resources left untapped beyond the operational range of the smaller boats, it is proposed to operate larger purse seiner and pole-and-line vessels on collaborative terms with other countries. Pro-posal for establishment of a Lakshadweep Fisheries Deve-lopment Corporation in this regard has been submitted to the Ministry. Pearlculture raft in Bangaram island Communicated by Shri George eries, UT Lakshadweep. Varghese, Director of Fish-56 

Department of Fisheries, Lakshadweep

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