Study of disparate sectors in fisheries

Fisheries employ a number of people and fisheries industry is truly an amalgamation of various disparate sectors. Fisheries play an important role in Indian economy and it provides employment to a number of people. For planning of integrated development of fisheries industry and resource management, a considerable amount of information is required. In this paper a study of the disparate sectors with regards to the nature of work, number of workers, sex-wise participation, earning type and earning in Indian Rupees in the year 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94 and 1999-2000 has been done in a selected fishing village. The geographical locale where the study has been done is Versova fishing village which is a major fish landing centre in Mumbai. The study has revealed that there are a number of disparate sectors in fisheries and in this fishing village on an average, a boat owner provided employment to 30-60 people in the year 1994 and to 19-25 people in 1999. Though this number has shown a decreasing trend with the advancement of years, it is however, seen that a number of people are employed in various disparate sectors in fisheries. It is necessary to highlight this and in any developmental planning, all these sectors should be given equal importance.