f

"

\t 9)Socio - Econ(~mics of Small Scale Fishermen

with Emplh:asis on Costs and Earnings ofTrad1 tional Fishing Units Along

Tri' .J'andrum Coast, I{erala-A Case Study

"R. ',ATHIADHASand K. K. P. PANIKKARCeo "II Marine Fish~rie:> Resoarch Institute. Cochin-31

S OCio-economic parU'<1eters such asfamily size, age ~.TUcture, customs,

boliols and habits, ompll.yment potentialsand och.cation and Ii\'. .lg standards offishormen influonce thet' response to newtechnolooy and their participation indevelopmental scheme!;, Studies on thesevariablos attempt not Oi'.~yto explain theoverall socio-economk' condition of thefishermen but also idtrntify the factorsconstraininG the realisat'"n of full poten-tial of traditional fish. ,'( and the appro-priLito iJrea lor governlT'lI!lt intervention.

Tho Central Marine :isheries ResearchInstitute 11<Isbeen cor, ii1uously monito-ring tho socio-econor, ic aspects of theartisanal fishery see!. (. A number ofmicro-level studies ha"B been conductedto examine the socio-o ..\)Oomic stiJtus ofthe soctor, to analyses (IICdetails of costsand earnings of differr.'']I fishing techni-ques and systems in'.idfereqt locations,to Identify the major s, cia-oconomic con-strainls and botttone, (.s for the fisherydevelopment and to a~;;ess.the impact ofintroduction of new innovations and

Novemuer 1988

improved techniques on traciitional fishery.Such studies have mostly been conductedin select'Jd marine fish in 1 villages ofdifferent maritime states. The presentstudy was conducted in Poonthura, amajor fishing village in Trivandrum districtof KeraJa State.

DATA ANI) METHODOLOGY

A preliminary investig&lion was car-ried out in Trivandrum coast extendingfrom Kolloncode (south) te..Kappil (norlh)during June-July 1985. Fis.hing activitiesin many of tho landing centres in thisregion romain suspended during the mon-soon months (June to August) as thetraditional fishermen find it difficult tolaunch their catamarans through thebreakers. Poonthura, located 5 Kms fromTrivandrum is one of thi:! few landingcentres ;n this region where fishing iscarried out throughout d,e' year. Sincethis village is also a tY!Jical traditionalfishing centre supplying considerablequantity of fish to the n0iHby markets, ithas been selected for detailed socio-economic survey.

21

A household survey was carried out

in Poonithura fishing village duringAugust 1985. There are about 1400households in this village. All the fisher-men households near the shore were

covered in the survey. Information per-

taining to size of family, educational

status, housing and occupational pattern

ownership of means of production, invest-ment on fishing equipments, househoid

income and expenditure pattern, indeb-

tedness, source of credit, utilization ofcredit and extent of infrastructure facilities

available was collected through the

household schedule. To study the econo-

mics of operation of different types of

traditional fishing units, cost and earning

data have been collected from sample

units of each catamarans operating gill-

nets, hooks and lines and plank built

canoes fitted with OBM operating gill nets.

Two types of schedules were used

for cost and earning study-one for collec-

ting fixed cost details of the selected units

3nd the other for collecting daily opera-

tional costs and returns at the landing

centre by direct observation. Local enu-

merators were entrusted the work of data

collection under the supervision of the

project leader. The operational costs and

earnings data for the selected units were

collected for continuous ten days in each

month from September 1985 to August1986. The costs and returns data were

ana lysed separately for three district

fishing seasons of the period 1985-86 viz.

as premonsoon (February-May), monsoon

(June-August) and post-monsoon (Sept.-

January).

22

RESULTSAND DISCUSSION

I. Socio-economics:Poonthura fishing village is well

connected by road and frequent busservices are available from Trivandrum.

There is a Catholic church and 2 highschools located in this village. The publicfacilities like bank, post office, policestation. primary health centre, private

dispensiHie;., Mats'{aferi, "1mket hou!'ingsociety and drinking water taps are avai -

able within the village. An ice plant of

10 tonnes capacity is also located at thiscentre.

J

The average size 01 a fisherman familyin Poonthura is 6.3. About 69 per cent ofth& families are living in huts. The literacy

rate of fishermen is 46 per cent and amongthe literates 89 per cent have only primary

education. The earning members anddependents are in the ratio of 1:3 in the

village. About 36 per cent of the people

come under the category of workingpopulation of which 29 per cent is women,

engaged mainly in net making/repairingand fish processing. About 64 per ~entof the workers are active fishermen,

Among the active fishermen 62 per centare owner operators. 4 per cent non-oper-

ating owners and the rest are wage-earners.

In Poonthura, 66 per cent of fisher-

men households have ownership of means

of production. The ownership pattern of

fishing equipments is given in Table 1.About 44 per cent of the owners haveeither catamaran or canoe with only one

type of net and 32 per cent have samewith two type of nets. Almost 17 per centof them have three or more type of nets

along with catamarans or canoes.

Seafood Export Journal

Tho investment par' .'.m on fishingoquipmonts is given in r)ble 2. About28 por cont of the fishe.! ,Ien householdshavinu ownorship on me; ISof productioninvested less than rls. :~OOOl- towurds

fishinU implements. Th;' capital invest-men! is in the range (I Rs. 3001 J- to5000/- for 17 per cent Rs. 5001/- to7000/- for 14 per Co,'! Rs. 7001 to

10000j- for 11 per cen:. Rs. 10001/- to15000r. for 8 per cent, Rs. 150011- to20000(- for 7 per cent and above Rs.20000,1- for about 15 pel cent. 'The studyreveals that 70 per cer,' of the owners

hav13 invested less tha'; Rs. 10000/- forfishing equipments.

Novembor 1988

Table 2

Familywise break up of capitiJl investmenton fishing equipments.

Capital inv"",I",,,"1 (Hs) No.ol per cent',,'mlles

Less than Rs. 3000 G2 283001 -5000 37 175001 -7000 30 147001-10000 :4 1110001-15000 17 815001 -20000 15 720001-30000 13 630001-40000 12 5Above 40000 9 4

Total 19 100-23

The average annual income of afisherman I-:ousehold in Poonthura worksout at Rs. 11063/., the per capita incomebeing Rs. 1756/-. Active fishing is themajor occupation for about 97 per cent ofthe fishermen households. Out of these

active fishermen, 35 per cent are wage

earners who do not possess any fishing

equipments. The classification of fisher-men families based on major occupationand annual income is given Tal.>le-3.

Classification of fishermen families based on major occupation and annual income

Table.-3

Incomegroup (Ps)

Owners of

canoe/cata-marans

Less than Rs. 3000/-

3001 - 5000

5001-7000

7001-9000

9001-12000

12001 -1 5000

15001 - 20000

Above 20000

3

17

32

63

51

35

18

Total 219 102 8 331

Among the owners of canoe andcatamarans maximum number earns anincome in the range of Rs. 9000 to 20000/-per annum and among the wage earnersmaximum is in the income range of 7000to 12000/-. The average annual incomeof the owner operat0rs is Rs. 12185/ '

wage earners Rs. 9130/- and familiesengaged in fishery related activities Rs.8200:-. About 50 per cent of fishermenfamilies in Poonthura are in debt. Thetotal outstanding debt of these fishermenfamilies works out at 14.5 lakhs and perindebted household Rs. 9022/-. Thesources of credit to these fishermen aremoney lenders, _ boat owners and fishtraders, commercial banks and coopera-

24

Wage Fishery related Others Totalearncrs

1

6

24

28

24

17

2

2

2

12

41

60

89

71

38

18

1

3

1

3

2

tive societies. Mony lenders are supplyingabout 65 per cent of the credit needs offishermen. The Institutional agencies likebanks and cooperative societies meet only23 per cent of the credit requirement.Some craft owners. also advance loans tofishermen on the condition that theyshould work only in the creditors' units.The loa nee have to return the entiremo'ney with interest if they want to leavethat unit. Usually craft owners take loansfrom fish traders on the condition thattheir catch will be sold only to thosetraders. In such case fish traders by thecatch at price fixed by them and recoverthe loan on instalments at the time oftransactions.

Seafood Export Journal

o

1--1 . "

IIII

~~

S

Th13 extont of cledit pplied by

d:i\C,iW1t "gen,:IPs to fish,:, (';:1 housf)-

hot<.i~ uf '.'ilrh.'Jus incomo 9'0 i '. 3t Poon-

tiltH;1 is ;jiven in Table ~ Maximumcrl;;l!,t I;, supplied by lTlon"y, ~JCI : to Ihe

Ifishermon hCliseholds o!

),:1 I.ICOmC

groups. The contribution 01 : )mmercialbanks i$ comparatively mor for higherincome !)rr}l/ps. The suppl\,' of credit by

b,lI~ks liing.:s from 2.5 p:r c ~i:t for those

...-....---SIIDpiy ,.")fcredit by .di"i";!(cnt agellci,,' to 'hhermcn of va iou'! inc~ome (, oups.

....---

-in the income ranb' 0, .,s ~';0C - GOOO,-to 24 per cent for tho:'.' f abov,:; Rs

200QO, <lnnual ir :omr-. "be role ofcooperative socilJties for p;o. .diny creditII' Poonthurrl ISj cornparali\,( y neagre.10W6VQr !till !1!;t1l:rmon hOUSE aids In the

income group of Rs. 5000.~ )0')/- havetaken maximum advantage of 1C cooper-Itive socioties.

Tablt- 4

SUP!!:,' 01 credi b,' diff~'()n( ag'" ies

BOd! O~v!hH~&

FIsh trad",',

1100(3.5)

10400

(2)

8500

('1)

5000

(3)

-----.-.1'0:;;1 :), '~:,25 /5('00

, -" '---'--" -- ---~-"Flqt;l !i In 1"lIC!..::', 1f1dH': P.'rc('n~;J';1e'3

TtH. pelCeii!i!~F l},d,zati()f) of creditfor differLnt purpo:;ns '. \/ivf'" in Tahir> 5.Tlh) IOiJrts td~:(~n for Pl.(haseam! Il:pcminq'J; fishing (!quiprnor.! construotion andn);",'jnlim,jO(;t; oJ Il(), c buildings <IodIJduc;:Jlion oft clilldrl . ore considered lor!11Jestrnt::ntpurposes. The amount taken

Novcr:1bcr 1988

h.JJ hold ..;xp,'nrli. III:, e ;>enditure1, II ;n,d rcliOiou' f r '; )nS,IC1nsi ( ;, t kinO ernplo" 1( m , I gult and

PI' '~)I:.;CP!ldPCOUS item~ t, consj(jpreri

fer con!..umption purpo~ :$, .' 'jout (;2 percent 0f 1110IO<Jn amoup is utilised for

invos\rncnt purpose of \<\'1ch 54°';; is for

25

lit,.,.....

InC:O:Th) Mor1i!'t'

.(1'011.1" l.;fHJ:1r

----3001--)OOO 253() :;

(84)

5001 ..7000 698(0

(60 j

7 \101 9000 44i ';0

(5', "

9000 1:>000 178:.':5

((;" )

1200'1 15000 3Se,j,UO

(' ,'". .'1

1 )(JO 1 20000 1 "f' ;00

(I .!)

Above 2000(1 10;:500

.0)

Co.opt ativ. TtdlSan '> SOC.!tis I'...tLt

_.. --- -- -.- ....---

'7 (' -- 30t ') j')100

(:..S) (1 G) (1101,

11 lor' 1500 1 1)50 1U505J

(11 ) (11 ) '). ) ( 100)

1120(. 121'JO 11)) 0 78550

(14) (' 5) ( I ( ) (100)

5950 1311 47850 299625

(2rJ,' (4 ) ( 16) (100)

1 01 ,JO '18('. ) ,'9600 527800

(" :) (3 '8) (100)

11 500 10000 'I c,350 24035017) (<1) L) (100)

L 1700 21 fa 171000

;24\ (1::,)), (100)

---------- --.-(81 1i1 65350 150"-'0 1L 52475

investment on fishing equipments leavingonly 8% for other purposes. The break upof credit requirement for consumptionand investment purposes by variousincome groups is given in Table 6. It isseen that lower tho income, higher is thepercentage of loan amount spent for consumption purposes and vice -versa. In thelower income group (less than Rs. 5000)credit is mainly used for householdexpenditure whereas for higher incomegroups (ubove Rs. 12.000) the diversion'.: -. .::-::'1"',.,:.~s ,,;j~i.., fJnc!lc,tlS esp'-claily marriages.

Table-5

Pattern of credit utilisation

PUTpose Percent utilisat,(",nof loans

Table-6

Proporation 0: utilisation of credit forconsumption and investment purposes by

various income groupsIncome group Consumption

%Investment

%less than Rs.30003001 - 5000

5001 - 70007001 - 90009001 - 1200012001- 1500015001- 20000Above 20000

65585752404030

35424348606070

26

The' average annual expenditure o'a fisherman family in Poonthura wor~~out at Rs. 10598/-, the per capita oxpen-diture being Rs. 16R2/-. The annuaexpenditure pattern towards various needsis given in Table 7. The expenditure or-food items alone works out at 78.5 percent of the family budget. Of the foodexpenditure about 10 per cent is spent byearning members on their personal oxpen-ses like consumption of lir-uor, tea and

Table--7

Average annual expenditure pattern of afisherman household in POOf1I!lura

SI.No.

Item Annual PHr centl'xpendill"" to toWI

II. Costs and returns of traditionalfishing units

For a catamaran unit operatinggillnet the average initial investment forthe logs comes about Rs.3000/- and forthe gillnets Rs. 5500/-. Tho purchasevalue of hooks and lines comes aboutRs.350/-. The initial investment on plankbuilt canoes fitted with OBM operatinggillnets averages Rs. 40800/-. In a cata-maran, normally 2 crew members go forthe operation of hooks and lines and 2 to5 go for the operation of gill nets. Mostof the fishermen operating catamarans

Seafood Export Journal

I. INVESTMENT

(i) Fishing equipments 54(ii) House construction/

repairing 7(iii) Education of children 1

II. CONSUMPTION

(i) Household expenditure(ii) Expenditurf: on social and

re:igious function 28(iii) For seekir:g

employmont in Gulf 8(iv) M iscella.,eous 1

1. Food 8318 78.5

2. Education 1025 10.03. Clothing 447 4.0

4. Medicine 247 25

5. Recreation 124 1.0

6. Social andreligious functions 269 2.5

5. Miscellaneous 168 1.5

Total 10598 100

leave the shore in ',he early morning atabout 5' 0 clock it d return between 2nnd f> P. M. In a pi, Tlk built canoe fittedwith OBM, 4 to ~\ persons go for the~Iillnet operations. " hey leave the shorebetween 5 to 7 P M. and return with

i

their catch in the next ;},W between 6 to9 A. M. With regard :0 wages the netincome over operating expenses is dividedinto throe shares. one. for the craft andgear and the other two for the labourerstwo ~e equally divided among themselves.

Table-8

SUilsonwiso )perational costs and earnings of a catamaran with hooks andlines in Poonthura (1985-86)

1(,,"" Post '1\Ol1soon I"e. monsoon

(Sept.-Jun.) (Feb.-MdY)

To!~1 Average Total Ave'agepor day per day-

I.

12.

3.4.5

Operdtional c: ::ts (Rs)Hcpair & OIDiwcnanceBa:a for r;rew

Wages to cle'~

Auction eharli .~>

Ottwr expens,;;

Totoll

648

555

6010246

65

5423

70

357

7816

11.1.

Calch (Q.kg) ; nd Revenue (V.Rs)

IV1ackerei '.':' 203 2J 987 9

CiHiingids .:1 1113 10V 5093 46

CU!I!efish Q 166 2oj 1036 9

Tuna () 154 1V 1036 10

PriH'Vn n 62 0.5V 476 4

Half beaks ..1 45 0.4V 158 1

Others Q 308 3V 1454 13

Total Latch Q 2051 19& return!; V 10240 92

2.

3

4.

r~,

6.~

7.

1. OPerlJtional ,:osts and earningsTho catarn.,nIl1S operatinn hooks and

linos Incur com 'nratively less operationaland fixed cost~ The break up of seasonwise operotion,;: costs, spedes-wise catch

November 19BJ.

402445

5161223335

6566

157845176

2142

891195

89852

23138469

355610038727

Monsoon Annual

(Ju;'e.,~utJ.) (Sept.-Aug.)

Totul 1.I<",'agc Total Averager--:>rday pf:r day

4

5

58

34

74

491

60111575

521

589

13783

43

214

605

5354

11281

298

89

18189

215

1541'607

22746990

1281

28165

66

8665

107

298

3715

213

1202114

164631

144

and earnings of a catamaran with hooksand lines in Poontl1ura is given in Table 9.The number of fishing days during Sept.1985 to August 1986 for these unitscomes about 26 The average opera-tional expenditur,) per day was Rs. 70/-

292

24

92460803

261746

253160

1300225

3855330

342034937164!J149

19069

113

110

0.325

401198

17

1341

4522292

20929851

2121289

4033531

3765183398

37164270

121748203

36036

27

in post-monsoon, Rs. 74:- in pre-monsoonand Rs. 215,- in monsoon seasons res-pectively. Tho remuneration to crew orlabour expenses alone accounts 77 to 84per cent of the operat iOllal costs fordifferent suasons. For an year as a wholethe averane vJriable cost per day or oper-ation work~ out <1tRs. 107. The averagecatch per day ;s 1Q kg in post-monsoon11 kg during pre-monsoon and 81 kgduring monsoon seasons. Mackerel, car.

angids, cuttlefish, tuna, prawns and halfbeaks aro the major species caught inthese units. The gross returns per dayduring the year works out at Rs. 144/-ranging from Rs. 92 '- per day duringpost-monsoon to Rs. 298/ - per day duringmonsoon. The net operating income perday works out at Rs. 37/- which is Rs.22/ in po~. ""',C0:cO'Jil,f\:c.,24/- . r-ic-monsoon and Rs. 83/- in monsoonseasons.

TalJle-9

Seasonwise operational costs and earnings of a catamaran withgillnets in poonthura (1985-86)

(Items

I. Operational costs (Rs)

1.2.3.4.5.

Repair and maintenanceBata for crewWages to crewAuction chargesOther expenses

Total

2. Tuna

3. Carangids

4. Prawns

5. Cuttle fish

6. Half beaks

7. Eels

8. White baits

9. Others

III. G~oss r~.t_urns

November 1988

Post monsoon Pre-monsoon

(Sep-Jan) (Feb-may)

Monsoon

(June-Aug)---" -----...

Annual

(Sept-Aug)

Total ave. Total ave. Total ave. Total aveper day per day per day per day

81110928741

351440

11 235

3121240139662526

2406239735

133871712970

14694

81082

34

107

622800

6024290401

8137

27162

11

3111950

2602766

6759823

276

II. Catch CO.kg)& Revenue (V-Rs)1. Mackerel 0 161

V 690o 101V 675o 154V 1115QVQVoVoVoVoVQVI

312165

2327

136829

140

1421350

115899

40160751

25731709

10572

o

79

6835

92

1087S68

18979695834

22563

422

33117

0.33

88330368

412122

1762.122235660

1980100825748064

1612366

198367

324010853 :

30977

2151

100.5

28

2920

119

1614

2751012

327

155

600.3

33

3210291537

117234

135

47,157449

25202860

3354413361675

41935

5602970729

7562243

1889235

2511972

3220128745868705

19428345

10932456

129841553256243

1011

12756

159

211

329

171

104

12517

337414

949,59..213

29

The plank built canoes fitted withoutboard motors (OBM) in Poonthuraoperated on an average 260 fishing daysduring September 1985 to August 1986.The seasonwise costs and earnings ofOBM gillnetters have been given inTable 11. The average variable cost perday of operation w:>rks ClJt at Rs. 291/-.The operating expenditure per day rangesfrom Rs. 172/- during the pre-monsoonseason to Rs. 364/- during the monsoonseason. The labour cost alone accountsfor 47 to 69 per cent of the variable costsfor different seasons. The wage share of5 crew members ranges from Rs. 82/- perday during pre-monsoon season toRs. 253/- per day during monsoon season.The fuel expenses per day ranges fromRs. 60/- during pre-monsoon season to

Rs.70/- during post-monsoon season,constituting ;35 per cent and 21 per centof the operating expenses in these sea-sons respectively. Mackerel. carangids,tuna, seer fish and eols am the majorvarieties caught in these units. Tho aver-age catch pc: dav daring the yoar (Sup,.'80 .0 Aug. '86) works out at 65 kg,which is 85 kg per day during p05t-mon-soon, 31 kg for pre-monsoon and 74 kgfor monsoon seasons. The gross returnsper day during the year worked out atRs. 385/- ranging from Rs. 202/- per dayduring pre-monsoon to Rs. 476/- per dayduring monsoon sea'sons. The not opera-ting income per day works out at Rs. 94/-;ranging from Rs. 30/- to Rs. 133 fordifferent seasans.

Table-11

Annual income and expenditure statement of traditional fishingunits in Poonthura (Sept. 1986. Aug. 1987)

Item Catamaran withhooks & lines

Catamaran withgillnets

Canoe fitted

with OBM

1. Initial investment (Rs)a) Craft

b) Gear (s)c) O~ B. M.

Total

2. Annual fixed cost (Rs.)

a) Interest for investment (15%)b) Depreciation

i) craftii) gear

iii) OBMTotal

3. Operational costs (Rs)4. Total costs (Rs) (2+3)5. Gross reV9nue (Rs)6. Net operating incQme (Rs)7. Net profit (5-3) (0-2)

3000350

3350

503

600175

1278

2816529443

3~98718593

32

"'-<..., .i'11.;'}OO}!JiJ'1'-~<"'~'"

riI

Compa(8tivo economic' -Annual incomeand expenditure

Tho annual incomL "and expenditure!itaternunt of tho threewpes of craft andgear combinations is ":iven in Table 12.Tho annual fixed cost in :Iudes the interestfor initial inviJstmont aw' de~reciation ofthe fishing units, Th., interest for theinitial investment is \\ Dtked out at therate of 15 per cant per 0; num. The depre-ciation of the fishir: J equipments isworked out under straight line method onthe basis of the expecte~ !ife. The avorageannual depreciation ;-s worked out at

Rs. 775/- for catamarans ofJerating hooksand lines, Rs. 1700/- for catamaransoperating gillnets aHd Ra. 6660/- forcanoes fitted with outboard motors. Theavcrage annual fixed GOf,! comes aboutRs. 1278/-, for catamaruns operatinghooks and lines, Rs. 2975/- ~orcatamaransoperating gillnets and Rs. 12780/- forcanoe fitted with OBM operating gill/driftnets. The depreciation of fishing equip-ments alone accounts about 61 per centof the annual fixed cost of catamaranswith hooks and lines. 57 per cent forcatamaransoperating gillncts and 52 percent for canoes fitted with OBM.

Table--12Key econon;,; indicators of traditional fishing units PoonthlJ'.-a

Item CDtllnlaran with Canoe fittedgillnets with OBM

Catamaran withhooks & lines

----

I.

II.

Input-output effici ,mcy

1) FIxed (atio 0.03 0.05 0.13L) Operating rat;( 0.74 0.75 0.753) Gross ratio 0.77 0.80 0.88

Capital efficiency1) Capital turno" i ratio 11.3 6.8 2.452) Rate of retur:, 10capital (%) 271 148 443) Pay buck peri j (years) 0.36 0.65 2.2

III. labuur officienc '/--1) Average prodL ;:!ion per

manday (kg) 15 15 132) Average vaJUI of production

per manday (, ':s) 72 53 773) Average wag{ s received

by a labour 43 32 37

IV. Break even point

1) Actual produ.:lion (kg) 8.2 15.5 16.82) Break even pr tilt of production 6.3 12.4 14.93) Break even C,;!;;t , 3.59 2.89 5.24

Average sellu<J pric (kg) 4.64 ' 3.62 5.94

V: Actual number of 'ishing days 264 263 260....-

November 1988 33

The annual total cost works out atRs. 29443/- for catamarans operatinghooks and lines. Rs. 44910/- for cata-marans opnrating 9illnets and Rs. 88283/.for canoes fitted with OBMS. The annualaverage catch of a catamaran unit opera-ting hooks and lines comes about 8.2tonnes realising a gross revenue ofRs. 38036. 1ne net profit of a single unitworks out at Rs. 8593/- per annum. Forcatamarans operating gillnets, the annua'average catch per unit cc;nes about 15.5tonnes. amounting to a gross revenueof Rs. 56243 and the net profit ofRs. 11333/-. A canoe fitted with OBMgets a catch of 16.8 tonnes and realizeRs. 100117 as gross revenue andRs. 11834/- as net profit.

Economic efficiency

T~)..;~:':PUl-outP~~relationship, capitaland labour efficiencies and break evenpoints for the three types of craft-gearcombinations were worked out and givenTab1F.l3.

Three type~ of input-output efficiencymeasures like fixed cost ratio, operatingcost ratio and gross cost ratio to the grossincome have been worked out. For eachone rupee earned the amount goingtowards fixed expenses was 3 paise forcatamarans with hooks and lines, 5 paisefor catamarans with gill nets and 13 paisefor canoes with OBMS and for operatingexpenses 74 paise for hooks and lines,75 paise each for gii!nets and OBM units.The gross expenses constitute 77%, 80~;and 88% of the gross income of these!hreo t~.'}a::, of i."-;it~ :-)5;.~~n"cl~/.

The capital turn over ratio explainsthe rate at which income is generated perrupee of capital invested. The ratioworked out at 11.3 for catamarans withhooks and lines, 6.6 for catamarans withgill nets and 2.45 for OBM units. Tho rate

34

of return to capital was fOIJndto be at271%, 148% and 44% tOi these threetypes of units respectively. As the aquisi-tion cost of 'capital was taken at 15%, theinvestment on all the three type of unitswas found to be profitable. The timelikely to take to recover the initial invest-ment is known as pay back period andderived out on dividing the initial invest-ment by net profit without consideringthe depreciation. The pay back period isabout 5 months for catamarans with hooksand lines, 8 months for catamarans withgillnets and 2.2 years for OBM units.

The average catch per man day worksout at 15 Kg each for catamarans opera-ting hooks & lines and 9illnots and 13 kgfor OBM units. The fishermen receivedmaximum wages of Rs. 43/- per opemt.ingday for operatirig ooo;",s a/ld lines in cata-marans foll0wed by Rs. 37/- for those inOBM units and Rs. 32f- for those incatamarans with gillnets.

The break even production on thebasis of catch composition and sellingprice of different varieties of fish caughtin each unit works out at 6.3 tonnesfor catamarans with hooks and lines 12.4tonlles for catamarans with gill nets and14.9 tonnes for OBM units; the actualcatch for these three type of units being8.2 tonnes, 15.5 tonnes and 16.8 tonnesrespectively. The break even price perkg of fish works out at Rs. 3.59 for cata-marans with hooks and lines. Rs. 2.89 forcatamarans with gill nets and Rs. 5.24 forOBM units. the actual price realised

tively.

CONCLUSION

The socio-economic survey indicatethat about 69 per cent of the fishermenfamilies in Poonthura live in huts. [iho

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fishermen households having ownershipon means I)f production constitute 66 percent of the total families and 70 per centof them have invested less than Rs.

10000/- for fishing equipments. Theaverage annual income of a family worksout at Rs. 11 063{- with a per capita in-come of Rs. 1756/-. For 97 per cent ofthe fishermen households. active fishing.. .:..;: .,"~, .:-.., __ _ ". I.~. ~~r' .."'t . ... . , _ ~ ._ _ ii\

of them are wage earners who do notpossess Clny fishing equipments. Theaverage annual income of the owneroperators is found to be Rs. 12185/-,wage earners Rs. 9130/- and !ho:;e infishery related activities Rs. 8200/-.About 50 per cent of fishermen familiesare in debt and the average outstandingdebt per indebted household works atRs. 9022.'-. Money lenders fullfill about65 per cent of the credit needs of fisher-men. About 62 per cent of the loanamount is uiilized for investment pur-poseS) In the lower income group (Jessthan Rs. 5000; -) the diversion of creditis mainiy tor household expenditure andfor higher income groups (above Rs.12000/ -) it is mainly towards socialfu"c!:~;jS U~pCC:C1n')' ino;ri8;;~:; T~'f; ':;V-3r-

age annual household expenditure perfisherman family works out at Rs. 10598/-

and 78.5 per cent of the expenses areincurred for food items.

With regard to the costs and returnsof traditional fishing units, the averageinitial investment of a catamaran unit

operating hooks and lines comes .aboutRs. 3350/- a catamaran with gillnetscomes about Rs. 8500/- and plank builtcanoe fitted with OBM operating gill/draft nets comes about Rs.40800/-. Theaverage number of fishing days comesabout 264 for catamarans with hooks and

lines, 263 for catamarans with gillnetsa'ld 260 for OBM units. 'The avereae

November 1988

1l,

operational expenditure per day worksout at Rs. 107/-. Rs. 159/- and Rs. 291/-for the three type of units respectivelyduring Spt. 1985 -August 1986.

For catamaran units with hooks andlines, the average gross returns per dayduring the year works out at Rs. 144/-.The gross returns are ranging from):': e...~. '~';:-'.-,~ " _'" . J,...\ ~..n <.: .,~. ...7.t....

for monsoon seasons. The net operatingincome per day works out at Rs. 37/- withthe range of Rs. 22/-. In post-monsoonto Rs. 83/- in monsoon seasons. The netprofit of the unit werks out at Rs. 8593/-per annum.

The annual gross returns for cata-marans with gillnets comes about

Rs. 56243/- and per day at Rs. 213/-. Thenet operating income per day of operationworks out at Rs. 54(-, which is Rs. 33/-in post-monsoon, Rs. 27/- in pre-mon-soon and Rs. 122/- in monsoon seasons.The annual net profit of this unit worksout at Rs. 11333/-.

The OBM units earns a gross incomeof Rs. 100117 !--per annum. The grossi,.~~cr;~(; ;:-e" .:~.;_: \o"!~f~"" ".:~.I: et ~::.. ..:.St,/

which is ranging from Rs. 202/- duringpre-monsoon to Rs.476/- during mon-soon season. The net operating incomeper day works out at Rs. 94/- the rangebeing Rs. 30/- in pre .monsoon to Rs.133/- for monsoon seasons. The annualnet profit of this unit works out atRs.11834/..

Considering the catch and revenuein different seasons for these units, mon-soon period (June-August) is found to bemore productive and profitable. Althoughcatamarans with hooks and lines earnbetter prices during the pre-monsoonseason, next to monsoon season, postmonsoon period accounts for more catchand ~f:)~,z~,..:~.

35

Sincs the initial investrl1ent is com-

paratively less the catamaran units showbetter input.output and capital efficienciesas compared to OBM units. This may bethe main reason that still considerablenumber of traditional units in Trivandrumcoast is not motorised inspite of its fastexpansion in other coastal districts of the~:~~''''". C,. ..u;"i:11,.;II~~ '"JO.ni;1 uV:1t\.~ ~{.(,! ~,;.~S

are highly suitable as a family enterprisefor the small investers who are capableto go for fishing in their own units. How-ever in terms of higher productivity, grossand net income and employment potentialthe canoe fitted with OBM is moreefficient.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to Dr. P. S. B. R.James, 0 irector, Central Marine FisheriesResearch Institute for his keen interest

and encouragement in carrying out thiswork. We are thankful to Shri D. B. S.Sehara. Head. F. E. E. Division for criti-

cally going through the manuscript.Thanks are also due to Shri. J. J. Joel,Senior Technical Assistant Vi7hinjamqdsea:ch Centre of CMFRI. for his help incollection of supplementary data and toShri. K. Anandan and Smt. K. P. Salini,Technical Assistants of the Institute fortabulation of data.

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Socia-economic status of fishermen

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-~

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