WORKING PAPERS - BOBP/WP/68
The by-Catch from Indian Shrimp Trawlers in the Bay of Bengal
by
Ann Gordon
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WORKING PAPERS - BOBP/WP/68 The by-Catch from Indian Shrimp Trawlers in the Bay of Bengalby |
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Executing Agency: Natural Resources Institute (NRI), U.K. Funding Agency: Overseas Development Administration (ODA) of the United Kingdom Bay of Bengal Programme Madras, India, 1991 |
| The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. |
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© FAO 2004
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Shrimps are a major foreign exchange earner for India. But in the race for valuable shrimp, the considerable by-catch hauled up with it is, by and large, ignored in parts of the country. This by-catch is almost 90 per cent of the shrimp caught. This report, based principally on work done in 1988, documents work on assessing the volume and composition of shrimp by-catch discarded by trawlers on India’s east coast and identifies the constraints to its improved utilization. At the time this study was undertaken, the provisional estimate of by-catch discards was approximately 100,000 t/a year. Though the numbers have changed since, the loss of by-catch continues to be substantial off this coast. Consequently, more detailed work has followed in specific areas, using this work as a basis. The study of shrimp by-catch and this report, which documents the work done, have been sponsored by the Bay of Bengal Programme’s (BOBP’s) Post-Harvest Fisheries Project. This project has been executed by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), U.K. and has been funded by the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) of the United Kingdom. During the work the best available experts were engaged and consulted. Besides the BOBP and NRI staff, they included counterparts and fishermen, A. Seetharamaswamy in Vishakhapatnam, and Roger Kullberg who provided invaluable assistance with data collection. |
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Terms of reference
1.2 Methodology of study
2. ASSESSMENT OF SHRIMP BY-CATCH
2.1 Terminology used
2.2 Sources of information
2.3 Methodology of assessment
2.4 The East Coast fleet
2.5 The by-catch discarded
2.6 Trawlers 20 m and over
2.7 Trawlers of 16-19m
2.8 Trawlers of 14 m
2.9 Mechanized fishing boats
2.10 The species of by-catch
3. OPTIONS FOR LANDING THE BY-CATCH FOR USE AS FOOD OR FEED
3.1 Reasons for discarding by-catch
3.2 Institutional constraints
3.3 Problems of stern trawlers
3.4 Adding value to by-catch
3.5 The effect on fish prices
4. THE FINANCIAL INCENTIVE TO LAND MORE BY-CATCH
4.1 Prices of wet fish
4.2 Prices of dried fish
4.3 Value addition by freezing
4.4 Voyage profitability
4.5 ‘Collection’ of by-catch
4.6 Pressure of numbers
5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER WORK
5.1 Conclusions
5.2 Recommendations
TABLES
1. By-catch discards from India’s East Coast trawlers
2. Wharfside fish prices, Vishakhapatnam, 1988
3. Prices of dried fish, wharfside, Vishakhapatnam, 1988
4. Cost structure for packaged frozen pomfret ‘steaks’
5. Cost structure for voyage by 20 m trawler
6. Trawler revenues and the effect of changes in fish price and quantity
7. Costs of collecting fish from trawlers off West Bengal
FIGURE
1. The trawling grounds off India’s Bay of Bengal Coast (map)
PUBLICATIONS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL PROGRAMME