The north-east region of India comprises of the

states of West Bengal and Orissa. There are about

100 landing centres distributed in these two coastal

states, of which most of them record seasonal fishing.

The estimated marine fish landings in this region was

4.83 lakh t in 2008, which formed about 15% of the

total ‘all India landings’

Ammini, P L

Khambadkar, Lata

Mini, K G

Rudramurthy, N

Subramani, S

CMFRI Digital Repository

contribution indicates the proportion in weight of therespective species towards the total weightattributable to the group to which the species isattached. As is evident Acetes indicus dominatedthe non-penaeid prawn group by accounting forabout 80%.Table 2. Major species contributing to their respectivegroups of importance in MaharashtraGroup Species PercentagecontributionPerches Nemipterus 52.01japonicusCarangids Megalaspis 42.54cordylaPomfrets Pampus 49.66argenteusSeerfishes Scomberomorus 69.38guttatusPenaeid prawns Parapenaeopsis 32.38styliferaNon-penaeid prawns Acetes indicus 79.64A similar analysis carried out for the GujaratState indicated that among the pomfret species, thesilver pomfret contributed overwhelmingly to the tuneof 84%, whereas Acetes dominated the non-penaeidprawn landings (Table 3). Carangid group alsopeppered with quite a few species contributing almostequally with M. cordyla leading the pack.Contribution from major harboursAs mentioned earlier, NWC is so dominated bymechanised gears that it can be termed as a trawlinghot bed. Naturally, crafts using such gears with highercost of operation, target fertile and receptive markets.Mumbai being a megapolis fits the bill perfectly.Three major harbours dot the Mumbai coastline andnaturally they show the lion’s share in Maharashtralandings. Similarly Gujarat has been served byharbours located at Okha, Veraval and Jakhau. Thefollowing table shows the relative contribution ofmajor harbours in 2008.In Gujarat, Veraval old and new harboursaccount for about one third of the annual totallandings of the state whereas New Ferry Wharf inMumbai matches it in the context of Maharashtra.Table 3. Major species contributing to their respectivegroups of importance in GujaratGroup Species PercentagecontributionPerches Priacanthus 47.05cruentatusCarangids Megalaspis 27.64cordylaPomfrets Pampus 83.57argenteusSeerfishes Scomberomorus 53.60guttatusPenaeid prawns Parapenaeopsis 32.08styliferaNon-penaeid prawns Acetes indicus 83.42Table 4. Contribution from major harbours in north-westregionState Harbour PercentageGujarat Veraval 27.67Porbander 17.24Maharashtra Sassoon Docks 12.47New Ferry Wharf 28.59Versova 6.31Marine fisheries of the north-east coast of India during 2008K. G. Mini, P. L. Ammini, N. Rudramurthy, Lata Khambadkar and S. SubramaniCentral Marine Fisheries Research Institute, KochiThe north-east region of India comprises of thestates of West Bengal and Orissa. There are about100 landing centres distributed in these two coastalstates, of which most of them record seasonal fishing.The estimated marine fish landings in this region was4.83 lakh t in 2008, which formed about 15% of thetotal ‘all India landings’. There was a sharp increaseof  about 27% in the fish landings in 2008 ascompared to 2007. This is mainly due to thesignificant increase in the number of crafts and gearsoperated in this region. The state of West Bengalaccounted for the largest share in the landings (62%)Marine Fisheries Information Service T&E Ser., No. 205, 201010and the remainder (38%) was from Orissa. The majorharbour in the region is the Paradeep FishingHarbour. This is situated in the state of Orissa and itaccounted for 76% of the state’s total landings in2008.The proportion in weight of the total marine fishlandings accounted by pelagic fish has risen fromabout 53% in 2007 to over 56% in 2008 (Fig. 1).Demersal fish production also showed an increasefrom 30% in 2007 to 32% in 2008. Crustaceansaccounted for 14%, while molluscs accounted for 1%of the total marine fish landings during 2008. Therelative proportions of these two groups haveremained more or less similar over the previous year.in 2007 to 22% in 2008 (Fig. 2). The landingsincreased from 48% in 2007 to 55% in 2008 duringOctober - December, while from April to June andJuly to September it decreased from 8% to 4% andfrom 26% to 19% respectively.The north-east region is cyclone prone and isworst affected by cyclones and floods during thesouth-west monsoon. Cyclones may also occur inMay in the inter-monsoonal period. During everyyear, the cyclones and strong southern winds disruptthe fishing operations in this region.Sectorwise contributionDuring 2008, the mechanised and  motorisedsectors contributed 80% and 15% respectively,while the non-mechanised sector accounted for therest 5% of the total landings. The types of craftscommonly used by the fishermen in the mechanisedsector  are trawlers, gillnetters and bagnetters.Trawlers and gillnetters conducted multiday fishing.Plank-built boats, canoes and catamarans are usedin the artisanal sector. The major gears used in themechanised sector are trawlnet, gillnet, fixed bagnetand hooks and lines. Gillnets, bagnets and hooksand lines were the important gears in the motorisedsector. Shoreseine and ringseine operations werealso reported from this region.In the mechanised/motorised sector, amongthe various gears employed, gillnet contributed39%, trawlnet 35% and bagnet 11% of thelandings. The other mechanised and motorisedgears contributed about 6% and 4% respectively(Fig. 3).During 2008, in West Bengal, about 111species were landed of which 43 species comeunder pelagic and 44 species under demersal.In the case of Orissa, about 169 species werelanded of which 60 are pelagic and 72 demersal.In the year 2007, the total number of specieslanded at West Bengal and Orissa were 105 and166 respectively.Fishing seasonThe seasonwise marine fish landings showedconsiderable variations in this region. The fishingseason begins by July and extends upto February.The most productive season was October-Decemberand the lean season was from April to June. DuringJanuary-March, landings increased from 18%Fig. 1. Groupwise contribution to marine fish landings inthe north-east region of India during 2007 & 200820082007Fig. 2. Seasonwise landings in the north-east region during2007 & 2008Marine Fisheries Information Service T&E Ser., No. 205, 2010 11Fig. 4. Major groups landed in the north-east regionMost of the trawlers conducted multidayfishing and accounted for 89% of the totaltrawl landings. The trawl landings showed a 5%increase in 2008 as compared to 2007. The catchper unit effort (CPUE)  for trawlers decreased from3468 kg in 2007 to 3455 kg in 2008. Similarlythe catch per hour (CPH) also decreased from61 kg to 57 kg in 2008. The CPUE of mechanisedgillnetters showed an increase of 471 kg in  2008compared to that of 2007. In the case of artisanalunits, CPUE increased from 61 kg in 2007 to69 kg in 2008.The trawl landings were dominated by croakers(18%), penaeid prawns (15%), ribbonfishes (11%),other carangids (5%), other clupeids (5%) andgoatfishes (4%). Gillnet units were operated frommechanised and motorised crafts and the landingswere constituted mainly by hilsa shad (29%), otherclupeids (9%), catfishes (7%), Bombayduck  (7%)and ribbonfishes (5%). The contribution from gillnettowards total landings was about 1.51 lakh t in 2007and it increased to 1.88 lakh t in 2008. As comparedto the year 2007, all the gears showed marginalimprovement in landings during 2008. The bagnetlandings from the mechanised boats experienceda reduction of nearly 2000 t during 2008 and thesame gear in the motorised sector, showed anincrease of  3500 t. Contribution from the artisanalsector remained more or less equal to 5%. Thelandings by hooks and line were about 15,829 tin 2008 which showed 1% increase as comparedto 2007.Fig. 3. Sectorwise landings in the north-east regionTN - Trawl net, MGN - Mechanised gillnet, MBN - Mechanised bagnet, MOTHS- Mechanised others, NM - Non-mechanised, OBGN - Outboard gillnet,OBBN - Outboard bagnet, OBOTHS - Outboard othersMajor resourcesAmong the important groups, hilsa shad was themajor component of landings during 2008 and itaccounted for 0.54 lakh t forming 11.3% of the totalnorth-east region landings. The other importantgroups from this region were croakers (11%), penaeidprawns (7%), Bombayduck (6.5%), ribbonfishes(6.4%), other clupeids (6.1%), non-penaeid prawns(6%), catfishes (5.7%), carangids (4.9%) andpomfrets (4.7%). Among the major resources landed,except Bombayduck, all others showed animprovement in the landings during 2008 ascompared to 2007 (Fig. 4).Hilsa shad was caught mainly by multidaygillnetters (95%). Croakers were landed by multidaytrawlers (67%), bagnetters (14%), gillnetters (13%)and about 3% by non-mechanised units. Penaeidprawns were mainly caught by trawlnets (89%) andabout 7% by bagnets. In the case of ribbonfishes,the landings were by trawlers (64%) and by gillnetters(32%). Other carangids were abundant in trawllandings. Goldspotted granadier anchovy and hairfinanchovy are common anchovies of this region andare landed by trawlers. Non-penaeid prawns weremainly caught in bagnets along with their predators,Harpadon nehereus. Catfishes, pomfrets and horsemackerel were landed by gillnets.Marine Fisheries Information Service T&E Ser., No. 205, 201012

Marine fisheries of the north-east coast of India during 2008

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Marine fisheries of the north-east coast of India during 2008

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