Andhra Pradesh is one of the major marine fish

producing states along the east coast of India.It has

a coast line of 974 km bordering in the east with 9

coastal districts viz., Srikakulam, Vizianagaram,

Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari,

Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore. There are

two major fishing harbours at Visakhapatnam and

Kakinada from where bulk of total trawl catch

(about 70%) is landed. The fishery is contributed by

mechanised, motorised and traditional sectors.

Socio-economic evaluation of the fisherfolk

population, information on livelihood activities,

education and professional status are the

prerequisites for proper planning and

implementation of programmes for their upliftment

and social empowerment. Marine Fisheries Census

2005 and 2010 provides needed information for

Government agencies, NGO’s and other

stakeholders

Ghosh, Shubhadeep

Maheswarudu, G

Rao, M V Hanumantha

CMFRI Digital Repository

Mar. Fish. Infor. Serv., T & E Ser., No. 221, 201416Table 1. Comparison of landing centres, fishing villages, fisherfolk population, average family size and sex ratio detailsbetween Marine Fisheries Census 2005 and 2010.Landing Centres Fishing villages Fisher folk Average Sex ratio  (Femalespopulation family size  to 1000 males)District 2005 2010 Increase/ 2005 2010 Increase/ 2005 2010 Increase/ 2005 2010 Increase/ 2005 2010 Increase/decrease decrease decrease decrease decrease(%) (%) (%) (%)   (%)Srikakulam 54 55 1.9 107 128 19.6 81381 98450 21.0 4.3 3.9 -11.1 943 949 0.6Vizianagaram 11 12 9.1 20 20 0.0 24543 20812 -15.2 4.6 4.1 -11.2 974 938 -3.7Visakhapatnam 31 66 112.9 79 63 -20.3 129045 113632 -11.9 4.1 4.0 -3.7 967 923 -4.5East Godavari 37 29 -21.6 53 97 83.0 85458 165208 93.3 4.1 3.7 -9.5 985 970 -1.5West Godavari 9 7 -22.2 8 7 -12.5 8009 9188 14.7 3.6 3.8 4.5 931 952 2.3Krishna 17 37 117.6 47 43 -8.5 54002 43005 -20.4 3.4 3.3 -3.5 981 955 -2.7Guntur 6 8 33.3 34 36 5.9 28467 39333 38.2 3.4 3.3 -0.6 952 949 -0.4Prakasam 43 39 -9.3 74 67 -9.5 51353 51511 0.3 3.8 3.4 -10.0 943 924 -2.0Nellore 63 100 58.7 76 94 23.7 47733 64289 34.7 3.8 3.8 0.0 945 910 -3.7Total 271 353 30.3 498 555 11.4 509991 605428 18.7 4.0 3.7 -6.3 962 943 -2.0Marine Fisheries Census 2005 and 2010 of Andhra Pradesh: A comparisonMaheswarudu,G., Shubhadeep Ghosh and Hanumantha Rao, M. V.Visakhapatnam Regional Centre of CMFRI, VisakhapatnamAndhra Pradesh is one of the major marine fishproducing states along the east coast of India.It hasa coast line of 974 km with 9 coastal districts viz.,Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, EastGodavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasamand Nellore. There are two major fishing harboursat Visakhapatnam and Kakinada from where the bulkof trawl catch (about 70%) is landed. Socio-economicevaluation of the fisherfolk population, informationon livelihood activities, education and professionalstatus are the pre requisites for proper planningand implementation of programmes for theirupliftment and social empowerment. MarineFisheries Census 2005 and 2010 provides neededinformation for Government agencies, NGO’s andother stakeholders.Fisherfolk and their occupationsAccording to the Marine Fisheries Census 2010,there are 555 marine fishing villages and 353 landingcentres in Andhra Pradesh. This is an increase of11% in terms of fishing villages and 30% with regardsto landing centres compared to the Marine FisheriesCensus 2005. However, landing centres in EastGodavari, West Godavari and Prakasam districtsshowed decrease due to disturbance to fishingactivities by industrial/other activities.The marinefishermen population of the state in 2010 is around6, 05,428. This showed a 19% increase in the marinefishermen population from 2005 to 2010. Among1,63,427 fishermen families reported in 2010, about98.5% belonged to traditional fishermen. TheMar. Fish. Infor. Serv., T & E Ser., No. 221, 2014 17maximum number of families were in East Godavari(44,476) and Visakhapatnam (28,779) districts.Fishermen families dependant on marine fishinghave increased by 26% compared to 2005 (1,29,246families) in Andhra Pradesh. However, the averagefamily size has fallen from 3.95 in 2005 to 3.7 in2010, with maximum of 4.05 in Vizianagaram districtand a minimum of 3.29 in Krishna district. The sexratio (female to male) among fisherfolk has showeddeclining trend. The sex ratio in 2005 was 962females per 1000 males whereas in 2010 it was 943females per 1000 males. In 2010, women formed48.5 % of the total population and the female tomale ratio was maximum in East Godavari district(970 females/1000 males) and minimum in Nelloredistrict (910 females/1000 males). Decrease infemale to male ratio was observed in 7 districtsexcept in Srikakulam and West Godavari districtswhere it has increased (Table 1).The active fisherfolk population involved inmarine fisheries activities of Andhra Pradesh hasincreased by 8% from 1,38,614 in 2005 to 1,50,868in 2010. Though active fishermen population in thestate has increased, it has actually decreased in sixdistricts (Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Krishna,Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore) indicating thatfishermen are moving to other professions as thesedistricts are more urbanised/industrialised. The fulltime and part time fishermen recorded during 2010are 1,27,837 and 19,373 respectively. The part timefisherfolk population showed a decline of 30% from29,109 in 2005 to 19,373 in 2010.There was anincrease in activities like marketing of fish andlabour activities over the five year period from 2005to 2010. Other associated activities like netmending, curing /processing and shrimp peelingactivities recorded downward trend (Fig.1).Table 2. Comparison of data on active fishermen, fishermen associated with fishing allied activities and other thanfishing activities during 2005 and 2010Active fishermen Fishermen associated Other than Total fishermenwith fishing allied fishing activities occupiedactivitiesDistrict 2005 2010 Increase/ 2005 2010 Increase/ 2005 2010 Increase/ 2005 2010 Increase/decrease (%) decrease  (%) decrease  (%) decrease  (%)Srikakulam 20829 23559 13.1 34361 30644 -10.8 532 1011 90.0 55722 55214 -0.9Vizianagaram 6321 5407 -14.5 5748 6143 6.9 821 65 -92.1 12890 11615 -9.9Visakhapatnam 35121 26351 -25.0 36027 24427 -32.2 4472 1416 -68.3 75620 52194 -31.0East Godavari 22892 45137 97.2 8346 23501 181.6 403 2916 623.6 31641 71554 126.1West Godavari 2247 2479 10.3 2722 1837 -32.5 0 1 0.0 4969 4317 -13.1Krishna 14626 12932 -11.6 23556 10102 -57.1 1103 2607 136.4 39285 25641 -34.7Guntur 11458 10305 -10.1 8687 13479 55.2 536 56 -89.6 21311 23840 11.9Prakasam 13366 13134 -1.7 16245 9875 -39.2 170 2804 1549.4 29781 25813 -13.3Nellore 11754 11564 -1.6 16570 20081 21.2 690 123 -82.2 29014 31768 9.5Total 138614 150868 8.8 152892 140089 -10.2 8727 10999 26.0 300233 301956 0.6Fig. 1. Fisherfolk engaged in fishing allied activities during2005 and 2010Mar. Fish. Infor. Serv., T & E Ser., No. 221, 201418Fig. 2. Educational status of fisher folk in 2005 and 2010Economic statusIn 2010, about 97% of the total 1,63,427fishermen families came under the Below PovertyLine (BPL) category. Vizianagaram district hadhighest number of below BPL families (99.9%)followed by Krishna (99.7%), Nellore (99.4%), Guntur(98.9%), Srikakulam (98.8%), Visakhapatnam(97.7%), East Godavari (96.7%), Prakasam (96.2%)and West Godavari (55%).In 2005, only 99,374 (19.5%) fisher folk hadmembership in co-operatives, of which 46.5 % werein fisheries co-operatives and 53.6% in other co-operatives. In 2010, 1,20,497 (19.9%) fisherfolk hadmembership in co-operatives of which 31.4% werein fisheries co-operatives and 68.6 % were in otherco-operatives. The decrease in membership infisheries co-operatives from 46.5% in 2005 to 31.4%in 2010 indicate the dissatisfaction of the fisher folkwith fisheries co-operatives.Infrastructure development in fishing villageswas improved due to conversion of Kutcha housesto Pucca houses. Percentage of Pucca houses in 2010was around 70% in fishermen villages with anincrease of 17% over the year 2005. The otherinfrastructure upgradation like electrification offishing villages increased from 95% in 2005 to 99%in 2010. In 2005 about 4.4% of fishing villages hadbank facility which improved to 7.2% by 2010. It isevident that government has taken updevelopmental activities for upgradation of livingstandards of the fisherfolk.Educational statusAs per 2005 marine census, about 625educational institutions were situated in the marinefishing villages of which 82.5% were primary levelschools,15.52% were secondary level schools and0.8% were colleges. About 1,11,403 fisher folk(21.8%) had primary level of education, 45,827 hadsecondary level education (9%), and 8,384 had abovesecondary level (1.7%).According to the 2010 report,there were 688 educational institutions in themarine fishing villages, 10 % higher than that of2005. Of these 83% were primary level, 14.4% weresecondary level, 1.3% were colleges and 1.3 % weretechnical institutions. About 34.28% of fisherfolkpopulation (children below 5 years excluded) wereeducated at different levels. Among fisherfolk,18.33% had primary level of education, 12.75% hadsecondary level, 3.2% had above secondary leveland the rest (65.7%) of the population wereunschooled. Among maritime districts, EastGodavari had highest fisherfolk with primaryeducation (22%), followed by Krishna (21.7%),Visakhapatnam (18.6%), Nellore (18.5%), Prakasam(17.2%), Vizianagaram (16%), Srikakulam (14.2%),West Godavari (13.2%), and Guntur (12%). Proportionof unschooled fisher folk was highest inVizianagaram district (77.6%), followed by Nellore(75.4%), Guntur (69.9%), Prakasam (68.7%), WestGodavari (68%), Visakhapatnam (64.7%), Srikakulam(63.5%), East Godavari (62.3%), and Krishna (58.9%).The percentage of population having secondary andabove secondary level of education has increasedfrom 2005 to 2010. Also the percentage ofpopulation having primary level education and noteducated category has declined from 2005 to 2010,indicating that fisherfolk are moving towards highereducation (Fig.2).Craft and GearAndhra Pradesh ranks fifth in contribution to themarine fish landings of the country. The averageannual marine fish landing of Andhra Pradesh during2000 - 2010 was 1.99 lakh t. Fishing effort declinedby 33% and 9% in terms of fishing units and fishinghours respectively, during the 11 years period.Annual average catch shows an increasing trend overthe years, with the advent of multiday fishing andMar. Fish. Infor. Serv., T & E Ser., No. 221, 2014 19oceanic fishing for tunas by traditional andmechanised sectors. The fishery is contributed bymechanised, motorised and traditional sectors.However, the motorised and mechanised sectors areslowly and steadily replacing the traditional sectors.As per 2010 census, there are 31,741 crafts engagedin the fishery of which 3,167 were mechanized(9.9%), 10,737 motorized (33.8%) and 17,837 werenon-motorized (56.2%). In the mechanized sectorgillnetters, trawlers and ring seiners constitute 52%,42% and 6% respectively of the total mechanizedcrafts. There were 41,039 crafts engaged in fishingin 2005, of which 2,541 were in mechanised (6.2%),14,112 motorised (34.8%), and 24,386 non-motorised (59%) sectors. Though there was increasein number of crafts in mechanised sector by 24.6%,overall number of crafts decreased by 22.65% from2005. This was mainly due to decrease in non-motorised (26.85%) and motorised units (23.9%)(Fig.3).in number of crafts operated during the sameperiod.In 2005, only 29,604 crafts (72.1%) were ownedby the fisher folk of which 68% were traditional non-motorised, 30% were motorised and the remaining2% were mechanised craft.In Andhra Pradesh, there were 1,341 trawlersinvolved in fishing in 2010. There was 26% declinein trawlers from 1,802 in 2005 to 1,341 in 2010.Districtwise contribution was Visakhapatnam (43%)with 579 trawlers, East Godavari district (36%) with487 trawlers, Guntur district (11%) with 150trawlers, Krishna district  (6.3%) with 85 trawlersand Prakasam district (3%) with 40 trawlers in 2010.Between 2005 and 2010, mechanized gillnettersshowed tremendous growth  from 424 in 2005 to1644 in 2010. The motorized sector and artisanalsector showed decline of 27 % and 24% respectivelyFig. 3. Number of crafts in marine fisheries sector in 2005and 2010In 2010, about 31,168 crafts (98.2%) were ownedby fisherfolk of which 2,447 (7.9%) weremechanised, 3,965 (12.7%) were motorised and24,756 (79.4%) were non-motorised.The number of crafts owned by fisherfolk hasincreased from 72.1% to 98.2% during the five yearsperiod. The ownership of mechanised crafts hasincreased from 2% to 7.9%, while for traditional non-motorised crafts it has increased from 68% to 79.4%.However, there is decrease in ownership ofmotorised craft from 30% to 12.7%. The increase inFig. 4. Mechanised crafts in 2005 and 2010Fig. 5. Fishery related infrastructure during 2005 and 2010Mar. Fish. Infor. Serv., T & E Ser., No. 221, 201420mechanised and non-motorised crafts owned byfisherfolk during 2005-2010, indicates that many ofnon-fisherfolk who owned crafts have left the fishingindustry.Fishery related infrastructure in terms of boatyards, ice factories, cold storages, freezing plantsand peeling sheds have developed during 2010compared to 2005. Fish meal plants and processingplants were added infrastructures. However, curingyards decreased due to enhancement of a coldstorages and ice factories.ConclusionOver the years, the marine fish landings ofAndhra Pradesh have shown a considerable increasebut the socioeconomic status of fisherfolk, indicatethat they did not reap the benefits of the increasedproduction. Although the basic amenities availableto the fisherfolk through the developmentalprocesses showed increasing trend, Infrastructuredevelopment in connection to fishermen livelihoodoptions was lagging. Infrastructure greatlycontributes to the processing, marketing and thequality of the produce and development of thecommunity as a whole. This is the prerequisite formarine fisheries sector and fisherfolk developmentin coastal areas. Though   ice factories andprocessing plants have increased fishermen are stilllosing their earnings due to post harvest losses whichis considerable. The main constraints perceived bythe fishermen are lack of proper road connectivityfrom fish landings centres to urban areas formarketing, cold storages for preservation, andelectricity shortage for ice plants, lack of properberthing facilities and minimum guaranteed priceof fish. The self sufficiency and skills of thefishermen along with proper infrastructural supportcan directly contribute to the socioeconomicupliftment of the less privileged fishermencommunity of Andhra Pradesh.

Marine Fisheries Census 2005 and 2010 of Andhra Pradesh: Comparison

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Marine Fisheries Census 2005 and 2010 of Andhra Pradesh: Comparison

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