Marine Fish Landings in India registered 5.3% decline

KOCHI:
The total marine fish landings from the main land of India during the year 2015 is estimated as 3.40 million tonnes registering 5.3% decline compared to 3.59 million tonnes in 2014.
However, the estimate of value of marine fish landings during 2015 at landing centre level was Rs 40,100 crores, showing an  increase of 26.30% increase over 2014 and Rs 65,180 crores at the retail level with 24.48% increase. The unit price per kg of fish at landing centre level was Rs 118 (32.8% increase) and Rs 191 at retail level (30.80% increase).
Kerala’s landings fallen markedly in 2015. However, it remains the third highest contributor towards total marine fish landings in India with a share of 14.2%. In comparison to 2013, the decrease was 14% in 2014 and it further decreased by 16% now.
A sharp drop in landings of oil  for 7.8% of all India marine fish landings. There is 23.1% reduction in the landings compared to that of previous year. The sector-wise contribution was maximum by mechanized sector to the tune of 98.5% of total landings. Penaeid prawns (12.8%), croakers (10.9%) and non-penaeid prawns (7.6%) were the
major resources landed in 2015.
The region-wise estimated fish production showed that the Northeast region, comprising West Bengal and Odisha
contributed 7.6% to the total production. Southeast region consisting of Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Puducherry contributed 31.8%. On the west coast, southwest region comprising Kerala, Karnataka and Goa recorded 29.2% of the total, whereas, the north-west region comprising Maharashtra and Gujarat contributed 31.4 %. Gujarat remains the major contributor to the total landings followed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
West Bengal contributed 3.5% to the total marine fish landings in India with1.18 lakh tonnes in 2015 compared to 0.77 lakh tonnes in 2014. Landings of hilsa shad slightly recovered after a dramatic drop in 2014. With a production of about 16,300 tonnes in 2015, hilsaranks first among the five most caught species. About 38% of state’s landings is caught by mechanised gillnet.
Odisha Landings peaked in 2011 at almost 3.2 lakh tonnes, but in the following two years declined by about 61%. However, landings in the state improved to 1.41 lakh tonnes in 2015, up by 1.7% relative to 2014. Lesser sardines, croakers and penaeid prawns, the three major resources formed more than one third of the landings. More than half
of the landings is by multiday trawlnet.
In 2015, landings in Andhra Pradesh decreased to 2.95 lakh tonnes, representing a 13% dip compared to
previous year. Multiday trawl fishery contributed 27% to the total landings followed by motorised ring
seine (25%).Lesser sardines, Indian mackerel, oil sardine, penaeid prawns and thryssa, were the top five
marine fish resources of the state sardinebrought down total landings.
Oil sardine, the most dominated species along the coast since 1961 (except few years between 1994 and 1998)was replaced by Indian mackerel in 2015. In Kerala, nearly 80% of fish are landed by trawl and ringseine.
The stimated marine fish landings of Karnataka amounted to 4.43 lakh tonnes in 2015, representing 13% of
the all India landings. There was a dip of 6.6% relative to previous year mainly due to decrease in oil sardine
landings. Indian mackerel was the most caught resource and relegated oil sardine to second positon during
this period. About one half of the resources are landed by trawl.
Goa shared only 2.0% of the total marine fish landings in India in 2015, with a contribution of 68,561 tonnes.
Compared to the landings in 2014, the marine fish landings in Goa reduced by around 55%. In Goa, the
dominance of mackerel followed by oil sardine was noticed as similar as Karnataka. About 88.9% of total
catch of the state was contributed by mechanized sector and mechanized purse seine played a significant role among all gears.
The landings from Maharashtra was 2.65 lakh tonnes in 2015 accounting for 7.8% of all India marine fish landings. There is 23.1% reduction in the landings compared to that of previous year. The sector-wise contribution was maximum by mechanized sector to the tune of 98.5% of total landings. Penaeid prawns (12.8%), croakers (10.9%) and non-penaeid prawns (7.6%) were the major resources landed in 2015.
Pelagic resources dominate in India’s total landings. The share is down from 57% in 2014 to 53%. Demersal
landings was 7.6% higher and it accounted 28% of the total landings.The remaining share of landings
consisted of crustacean (12%) and mollusc (7%).
Valuation of fish landings
The estimate of value of marine fish landings during 2015 at landing centre level was Rs 40,100 crores (26.30% increase over 2014) and Rs 65,180 crores at the retail level (24.48% increase). The unit price per kg
of fish at landing centre level was ` 118 (32.8% increase) and ` 191 at retail level (30.80% increase). The state of Kerala has the highest realization of prices at the landing centers and retail centers registering a growth of 36.42 % and 33.50 % respectively over 2014. The landingcentre price of the resources ranged from Rs 49/kg for oil sardines to Rs 341/kg for seer fishes closely followed by black pomfrets at Rs 320/kg.
Seer fish realised the highest retail price of ` 461/kg followed by Penaeid prawns (` 427/kg) and the lowest was for oil sardine (` 84/kg).