Fisheries.

Karnataka State has 320 Km long coastline along with 27000 Sq. km continental shelf area, 5.65 lakh hectares of various inland water resources and has vast scope for fisheries development. The brackish water area of 8000 hectares also provides good scope for shrimp/fish culture. There areabout 9.61 lakh fishermen in the state of which 3.28 lakh fishermen in marine and 6.33 lakh fishermen are in inland who are involved in various fisheries activities. During the year 2013-14, the total fish production of the state is 5.55 lakh tonnes which contributes to5.8% of the national fish production. Karnataka is in 6th position in marine fish production and 9th position in inland fish production when compared to fish production in the country. The total fish production during 2014-15, upto end of September 2014 is 1.58 lakh tonnes.

The major objectives of Department of Fisheries are:

Augmentation of fish production

Utilization of all suitable water resources for fish production

Development and maintenance of infrastructure for fishinglanding, preservation,processing and marketing

Adoption of new technologies for fish seed production and fish culture

Improvement in fish marketing network.

Improvement of the socio-economic conditions of fishermen

The budget allocation for the department from the year 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 are as follows.

(Rs in lakh)

Year / 2012-13 / 2013-14 / 2014-15
Allocation / 8,302.96 / 18,151.80 / 13,236.16

The allocation of funds from previous year has considerably increased.

During the current year, the new schemes initiated are as follows.

1)Call centre based extension service is provided to fishermen directly by consolidating information available at various levels. Under the scheme, SIM cards is provided to fishermen to facilitate free communication in Karnataka of details of Government schemes, market prices, potential fishing zone and weather information. An allocation of Rs 1 crore is provided for this scheme during 2014-15.

2)Action is taken to improve hygienic conditions in 8 fishing harbors and 20 fish landing centers with financial assistance from National Fisheries Development Board as per the standards set by the European Union for import of food items.

3)Water and soil quality testing kits are provided to District Level Offices at a cost of Rs.30 lakh to make the service of soil and water testing easily accessible.

Marine Fisheries:

Development of marine fisheries sector is taken up with a focus on sustainability through empowering the traditional sector, enhancing of sea safety, rational exploitation of untapped deep-sea resources, achieving employment generation, social security of fishers, increased food security and augmenting sea food exports. The marine exports including fishmeal and fish oil exports from Karnataka was 106693 metric tons worth Rs. 121037 lakhs during 2013-14. Trends in fish exports of Marine Produce from Karnataka for the last twelve years are given in Figure A.

Figure A: Exports of Marine Produce from Karnataka

Source: Dept of Fisheries

Fish Production:

The annual fish production in Karnataka has shown a considerable increase from 2.51 lakh metric tons in 2004-05 to 5.55 lakh metric tons in 2013-14. Details of fish productionfor the last 10 years are given in Table 8.52.

Table 8.52: Details of Fish Production in Karnataka (MTs)

Year / Marine / Inland / Total
2004-05 / 171227 / 80470 / 251697
2005-06 / 176974 / 120598 / 297572
2006-07 / 168544 / 123919 / 292464
2007-08 / 175566 / 122124 / 297690
2008-09 / 218137 / 143717 / 361854
2009-10 / 248728 / 159324 / 408052
2010-11 / 340571 / 186008 / 526579
2011-12 / 347383 / 199053 / 546437
2012-13 / 357325 / 168241 / 525566
2013-14 / 357358 / 197952 / 555310
2014-15* / 158429 / 85150 / 243579

*as on September 2014

Fishing Fleet Operating In Karnataka:

A detail of fishing boats operating is furnished given in Table C.

Table C

Mechanized boats / Motorised boats / Traditional boats / Total
Trawlers-2359
Multiday trawlers-780
Purse seiners-277
Inboard gillnet-326 / Gillnetters(OBM)-6670 / Traditional-7515 /
17927

Source: Department of Fisheries

Inland Fisheries:

Immense scope exists for development of inland fisheries with the available vastinland fisheries resources in Karnataka as shown in Table D.

Table D: Inland fisheries resources in Karnataka

Type / Area/Length
Major Tanks / 2.40 lakh ha
Minor Tanks / 0.53 lakh ha
Reservoir / 2.72 lakh ha
Rivers / 5813 km
Canals / 3187 km
Brackish water areas / 0.08 lakh ha
Production Potential / 4.02 lakh MT

Source: Department of Fisheries

Fish seed production:

The fish seed production detail of the state is provided in Table E.

Table E: Fish Seed Production (lakh fry)

Year / Target / Achievement
2007-08 / 3000.00 / 2287.00
2008-09 / 3100.00 / 2068.90
2009-10 / 3500.00 / 2965.00
2010-11 / 4000.00 / 3998.00
2011-12 / 5454.00 / 5012.73
2012-13 / 6345.00 / 4282.35
2013-14 / 6800.00 / 4918.12
2014-15 / 6750.00 / 4387.17

Source: Department of Fisheries

Fish Sanctuaries in Karnataka:

River stretches are declared as fish sanctuaries due to conservation of endangered and rare native fish species. Because of their unique and delicate ecosystem, any type of fishing is banned in these declared river stretches.These rivers stretchhelpin developing natural breeding of fish species. Details of fish sanctuaries in Karnataka declared by Department of Fisheries are given in Table F.

Table F: Fish sanctuaries in Karnataka

Sl.
No / Place/Taluk/District / River / Length of
protected area
1 / “Vanhi Puskarani” (Ramanathapur)
Arakalgud, Hassan / Cauvery / -
2 / Ranganathittu
S.R.Patna, Mandya / Cauvery / 5km
3 / Muttathi area
Malavalli, Mandya / Cauvery / -
4 / Shishila
Belthangadi, D.Kannada / Kumaradhara / 500m
5 / Abhirama fish sanctuary
(Hariharapura) Koppa,Chikmagalur / Tunga / -
6 / Dharmasthala
Belthangadi, D.Kannada / Nethravathi / 1km
7 / Kelkaru
Belthangadi, D.Kannada / Palguni / -
8 / Marakatha
Sulya, D.Kannada / Yenekkal (Kumaradhara) / -
9 / Seethanadi
Karkala, Udupi / Seethanadi / -
10 / Nakurgaya
Puttur, D.Kannada / Nethravathi / -
11 / Nisargadhama
Kushalnagara, Kodagu / Cauvery / -
12 / Uppukala
Sulya, D.Kannada / Kallaje / -
13 / Bachanayakanagudi
Sulya, D.Kannada / Yenekkal (Kumaradhara) / 2.0 Km
14 / Thodikana
Sulya, D.Kannada / Chandragiri / 500m
15 / Thingale
Karkala, Udupi / Seethanadi / 500m
16 / Sringeri
Sringeri, Chikmagalur / Tunga / 1km
17 / Jammatagi (Hariharapura)
Koppa, Chikmagalur / Tunga / 500m
18 / Chippalagudda
Thirthahalli, Shimoga / Tunga / 500m
19 / Mattur-Hosahalli
Shimoga Taluk & Dist. / Tunga / 1.5 Km
20 / Shivanasamudra
Malavalli, Mandya / Shimsha / 1.4 Km
21 / Bhagavathi Chaya Kolla
Surpura Taluk, Gulbarga / Krishna / -

Infrastructure in Fisheries Sector:

TheState government has given importance for the development of infrastructure facilities like fishing harbours, landing centres, auction halls, ice plants, cold storages, freezing plants and frozen storages. An overview of the infrastructure in fisheries sector is given below.

Labour Employed in Fisheries Sector :

Fisheries sector has been faring high in terms of its foreign exchange earning potential and employability of vast majority of coastal community in the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors associated with fishing. Improvements in technology has led to unbridled capital investment in this sector and has attracted more and more people from the adjacent coastal transects who do not necessarily belong to the fishing community. Seafood exports from Karnataka is exploring new heights with increasing opportunities for value addition and branding of products. This has led to increasing in the number of export units employing large number of skilled and unskilled workers. Further, over the years, there is increase in the coastal fisher folk population inducing more and more people into fishing and allied activities. Employment status and opportunities in marine fisheries sector of Karnataka has increased over the years along withmechanization and increased replacement of labour-intensive fishing technologies. Fish, being a highly perishable product, needs the services of several people for its fast movement from catching point to consuming point without deterioration in its quality. The size of fisher folk in Karnataka population in the State is given in Table G.

Table G: Fisherfolk in Karnataka

(in lakhs)

Sector / Total number of fishermen / Number of fishermen actively involved/employed
Marine / 3.11 / 1.51
Inland / 5.61 / 1.37
Total / 8.72 / 2.88

Source: Department of Fisheries

MAJOR PROGRAMMES OF THE DEPARTMENT

A)Marine Fisheries:

1)Construction of fishing harbours (CSS) :

Under this scheme, the construction and expansion of major fishing harbours and landing centres will be taken up for the marine infrastructure development in the State. During 2013-14, against a total allocation of Rs.4350.00 lakh, Rs.4349.57 lakh was spent for construction of fishing harbours at Malpe, Mangalore and Honnavar fishing harbours. An expenditure of Rs.1672.84 lakh for Malpe fishing harbour, Rs.2065.11 lakh for Mangalore fishing harbour and Rs.611.62 lakh on Honnavar fishing harbour was incurred.

An allocation of Rs.5500.00 lakhs has been provided during the year 2014-15 and anexpenditure Rs.3389.00 lakhs has been incurred upto the end of September 2014.

2)Dredging of fishing harbours and landing centers (CSS) :

Siltation is a commonphenomenon in fishing harbour and landing centers which adversely affects the movement of fishing boats.As a part of maintenance of fishing harbours, the centrally sponsored scheme on dredging of fishing harbours and landing centers is implemented. In the year 2013-14, an allocation of Rs.400.00 lakhs was provided and an overall expenditure of Rs.379.89 lakh was incurred for dredging of Hejamadi, Kandathapalli, Kodibengre, Amdalli, Udyavara, Bhatkal and Hangarakatte fish landing centres.

During 2014-15 an allocation of Rs.1000.00 lakh has been provided under the scheme of dredging of fishing harbours and landing centre. An expenditure of Rs.314.59 lakh hasbeen incurredup toend of September 2014.

3)Renovation of fishing harbours and landing centers (CSS) :

This scheme has been initiatedfor construction of small fishing harbours and landing centres with State Government plan funding and renovation of existing harbours with central assistance. In the year2013-14 an allocation of Rs.3200.00 lakhs was provided and Rs.2663.62 lakh was spent for the construction of jetties and landing centers. This amount has been spent for works at Maravanthe, Koderi, Shirur Alvegadde, Thengingundi and Alvekodi. The fishermen were provided with hygienic places to land their fish catch by constructing jetties and landing centers in various places.

During 2014-15 an allocation of Rs.2900.00 lakh has been provided under the scheme and Rs.951.14 lakh was spent up toend of September 2014.

4)Rashtriya Krishi Vikasa Yojana:

In the year 2013-14 under Rashtriyta Krishi Vikasa Yojana, in the marine sector construction of break watersat Vannalli and Belikeri fish landing centres and fishnet mending shedswere taken up at Sasihithalu, Kagalheni, Halkari and Murudeshwara at Uttara Kannda district. In the inland sector fishseed were stocked in selected reservoirs of the state. The allocation made for the year 2013-14 was Rs.5800.00 lakh. Programmes for Rs.1720.00 lakh was approved and the expenditure of Rs.1527.32 lakh was incurred

During 2014-15 an allocation of Rs.1500.00 lakh has been provided under RKVY. State Level Sanctioning Committee has given approval for programmes of Rs.539.00 lakh. No expenditure has been incurred up to end of September 2014.

5)Maintenance of coastal link roads:

The state has 276.51 Km long 281 fisheries link roads connecting fishing harbours and landing centres to National Highway and major processing centers in the coastal area. Every yearbudgetaryprovision is provided for construction andmaintenance of these roads. In the year 2013-14 an allocation of Rs.600.00 lakh was provided and Rs.587.97 lakh was spent for development and maintenance of 63 link roads.

Against the budget outlay of Rs.500.00 lakh during 2014-15 and expenditure of Rs.126.55 lakh has been incurred up to end of Sept 14.

6)NABARD assisted Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) scheme:

In the year 2013-14, NABARD has sanctioned five different fisheries works namely construction of Ideal berthing jetty near Sultanbatheri, Extension of Fisheries Jetty in Ullal Kotepura, Construction of fish landing jetty in Harawad, Ankola Taluk, Construction of fisheries jetty in Kimmane Horabag,Kumuta taluk and Construction of fisheries landing jetty (Minor) near Hegade Ambigarakeriat a cost of Rs.1350.00 lakh under RIDF-19. During 2013-14 the budget allocation was Rs.1800.00 lakh and expenditure was Rs.320.33 lakh.

NABARD loan assistance of Rs.3000.00 lakh has been earmarked for the year 2014-15. 22 works have been sanctioned and 4 works have now been proposed to NABARD for sanction. In the budget of 2014-15 an allocation of Rs.2000.00 lakh has been provided.

7)Development and maintenance of fishing harbour and landing centers:

The allocation provided under this scheme is utilized for the maintenance including water & electricity charges, cleaning & repairs of fishing harbours. During 2013-14, out of Rs.245.00 lakh provided Rs.234.98 lakh has been spent on maintenance of fishing harbours.

Under this scheme allocation of Rs.250.00 lakhs has been provided during 2014-15 and Rs.75.20 lakh has been spent upto end of Sept 2014.

8)Subsidy on the electricity used by ice plants:

In order to rejuvenate the ice plants of coastal districts, a subsidy of Rs.1.50 per unit of electricity used by these ice plants is provided under this scheme. An allocation of Rs.417.36 lakh was provided during 2013-14 and subsidy of Rs.399.95 lakh was distributed to 181 plants.

During 2014-15 an allocation of Rs.390.00 lakhs has been provided and so far no expenditure has been incurred.

  1. Inland Fisheries:

During 2013-14, the total fish seed produced from different fish seed production centres of department and private centres was 4966.22 lakh fry fingerlings. In 2176 department tanks, 1563.30 lakh fish fingerlings and in 1674 Gram Pancahayat tanks, 383.23 lakh fish fingerlings have been stocked. The inland fish production during the year was 1.91 lakh tonnes.

Various Programmes under inland fisheries are given below:

1)Subsidy for purchase of fish seed :

50% subsidy subject to a maximum of Rs.5000/- to individual person and Rs.20000/- to Fishermen Co-operative Societies will be provided for purchase of fish fingerlings under this scheme. This will help the farmer to get fish seed of good varieties. This also prevents the import of bad qualityfish fingerlings from the neighboring state. For this, Rs.30.00 lakh allocation was provided during 2013-14 and subsidy of Rs.12.42 lakh was released for purchase of 124.20 lakh fish fingerlings.

During the year 2014-15, an allocation of Rs.50.00 lakh has been provided under the scheme andRs.0.21 lakh has been spentup to end of September 2014.

2)Fish seeds :

Provision is made under this scheme to take up construction and maintenance of fish seed production farms to boost the fish seed production. During 2013-14 an allocation of Rs.139.00 lakh was provided and Rs.38.97 lakh was spent for maintenance of fish seed production centre.

In 2014-15, Rs.50.00 lakh allocation is made under this scheme and up toend of September 2014 no expenditure is incurred.

3)Supply of fishery requisite kits :

Under the scheme Supply of fishery requisite scheme, nets and other supplementary materials required to catch fish is provided to marine and inland fish farmers at 100% subsidy (Unit cost maximum Rs.10,000) . In 2013-14, out of an allocation of Rs.370.00 lakh made Rs.368.38 lakh was spent to distribute kits to 3684 beneficiaries.

An allocation of Rs.400.00 lakhs is provided for this purpose in 2014-15 and tender process has been completed.

4)Distribution of Fibre glass coracle for inland fishermen:

The programme, distribution of fiber glass coracle was formulated keeping in mind the safety of inland fishermen. These fiber glass coracles are not only durable but also very strong and it also helps the fishermen to fish in deeper waters and also ensure the safety to the life of fishermen. In 2013-14, 1999 fishermen were provided with this facility by spending Rs.199.98 lakhs (Allocation- Rs.200.00 lakhs). The cost of each unit was Rs.10,000/-

During 2014-15, an allocation of Rs.200.00 lakhs is made for this purpose. The process of purchase is under progress. There has been no financial progress.

5)Assistance for inland fisheries development :

Under this scheme, provision has been made for the recurring expenses for production of fish seed in fish seed centres, rearing in taluk level nurseries and in fish seed rearing centres. Allocation is utilised for purchase of fish seed and transportation, purchase of vehicle, purchase and maintenance of other requisites. In general, essential and supplementary facilities required for increasing fish seed production is made under this scheme. Under this scheme an allocation of Rs.250.00 lakhs was made in 2013-14 and Rs.233.87 lakhs has been spent.

A budget allocation of Rs.301.97 lakhs has been provided in 2014-15 for this purpose and up to end of September 2014 Rs.122.90 lakhs has been spent.

  1. Schemes for development of preservation, processing and marketing

1)Assistance for construction of fish market :

There is a need to establish hygienic fish markets. A scheme has been formulated such that local bodies can avail 90% financial assistance from National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad under the Department of Animal Husbandry, DairyingFisheries, Government of India for construction of markets and the remaining 10% can be availed from by the State Government. In 2013-14, an allocation of Rs.50.00 lakhs was provided for the scheme and an expenditure of Rs.19.12 lakhs was incurred.

In 2014-15, an allocation of Rs.30.00 lakhs has been provided for this purpose and up to end of September 2014 Rs.7.58 lakhs has been spent.

2)Distribution of insulated boxes to fisherwomen :

Under this scheme it was intended to assist fisherwomen involved in marketing by distributing ice boxes free of cost. An allocation of Rs.210.07 lakhs was provided in the budget of 2013-14. 4614 women were distributed with insulated boxes at a cost of Rs.118.03 lakhs. The scheme has not been taken up in 2014-15.

  1. Fishermen Welfare Schemes

1)Centrally Sponsored Fishermen Welfare Schemes

a)Savings cum relief scheme for marine fishermen :

Under this Scheme, Rs.75 per month will be collected from marine fishermen for a period of 8 fishing months in a year. Thus a total amount of Rs.600 will be collected from each fisherman. A matching contribution of Rs.600 each by the State and Central Governments is provided. Rs.1800 thus collected is distributed during 3 nonfishing (monsoon months) to the beneficiaries at Rs.600 per month.

During 2013-14 a budget allocation of Rs.400.00 lakhs was provided under this component and Rs.392.90 lakhs has been spent to distribute the relief to 32742 beneficiaries.

This scheme has been modified by Central Government and monthly Rs.900/- will be given. Rs.450.00 lakh is earmarked for this scheme in 2014-15. Under this scheme 39048 fishermen have contributed their savings.

Table I: Savings cum relief scheme for marine fishermen

Year / No. of beneficiaries / Amount disbursed
(Rs.in lakh)
2007-08 / 17372 / 103.14
2008-09 / 18112 / 207.07
2009-10 / 14716 / 176.04
2010-11 / 21066 / 252.78
2011-12 / 25721 / 308.66
2012-13 / 31223 / 371.72
2013-14 / 32724 / 392.90

b)Group Accident Insurance Scheme :

Under this Centrally Sponsored Group Accident Insurance Scheme, the premium amount of Rs.30.00 per fisherman, shared equally by State and Centre has been paid to the National Federation of Fishers Co-operative Ltd.,(FISHCOFED) New Delhi towards insurance coverage of 160,000 fishermen of the State. During 2013-14, an allocation of Rs.25.00 lakhs was made and Rs.24.00 lakhs has been paid to FISHCOFED, New Delhi towards premium by the State Government. There was 32 cases claiming an insurance of Rs.31.00 lakhs during 2013-14