The socio-economic status of fishermen of the Kanhirapuzha reservoir was studied for the period under report. The fishermen belong to the SC/ST Cooperative fisheries society. About 126 fishermen are members of the society. Sampling was done by collecting information from ten active fishers out of 30 fishermen operating in this reservoir. Majority of the fishermen have a middle level of educational background.
The demographic pattern of the fishermen community is in the ratio of 1:1.5. The head of the family is the sole earning member mainly through fishing and as labour being the subsidiary occupation. The literacy level of the fishing family mainly comprised of primary level of education followed by matriculation. The assets of the fishermen mainly consist of pucca housing with an average area of 300 sq.ft.
Among the fishery requisites, the fisherman does not have their own crafts, since the coracle made of fiber glass material is provided by the department of fisheries. All the fishermen own gillnets made up of monofilament nylon material with the mesh size ranging from 20 mm to 250 mm. The fishery activity here is capture fisheries and carried out individually by the fishermen in the reservoir. It indicates that the time devoted during the three periods viz., lean, medium and peak months is same (i.e.) 12 hours, whereas the catch is approximately 2, 4 and 8 kg/day during the lean, medium and peak seasons, respectively.
The main income for the fishermen is approximately Rs.14000 per annum and the subsidiary income of the individuals varies. The members of cooperative fishermen society should be supplied with all facilities for year-round fishing. Fishermen need training on the recapture of stocked fishes on mesh size, nylon nets instead of monofilament, hauling of nets etc
Source-
- central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore
