Livelihood Security in small Reservoirs – Case study of Aliyar (Tamil Nadu)
Livelihood Security in small Reservoirs – Case study of Aliyar (Tamil Nadu)
Date
2020
Authors
Chandrasekar, V.
Geethalakshmi, V.
Gopal, Nikita
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Society of Fisheries Technologists (India)
Abstract
Reservoirs play an important role in the nutritional
and livelihood security of fisher folk who belong to
to weaker sections of the society. In India, there are
19,134 small reservoirs covering a water spread area
of 14,85,557 ha. The present study is about ten
gillnet fishing units operating in Aliyar dam, a small
reservoir situated in Tamil Nadu. The common
fishes stocked in this reservoir are Indian major
carps viz., catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita) and
mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala). Fishing was the mainstay
of the stakeholders surveyed at Aliyar and their
livelihood was entirely dependent on it. At Aliyar
reservoir, fishing rights were given annually to these
fishing units. Currently the average investment
made towards each fishing unit ranged from Rs.0.55
to Rs.2 lakhs. The fishing tools used in the reservoirs
were coracles (bamboo and FRP) and nylon monofilament
gillnets of various mesh sizes ranging from 100
to 300 mm. The average fish catch was 10 to 20 kg
per fishing unit per day. The marketing of the fish
catch was done through Tamil Nadu Fisheries
Development Corporation (TNFDC) and the fishermen
got 60% of the share price obtained as income
from fish sales. The average monthly income of
fishermen varied from Rs.600 to Rs.1200. In this
paper, institutional arrangements for the Aliyar
reservoir fishing activities, socio-economic status of
fishers, economics of operation of fishing units and
income equality criteria of fisheries are discussed.
Finally, overall livelihood security index of fishers
was worked as 37.3% includes based on food,
educational, health and economic security of the
fisher folk which was 53.7, 29.0, 36.1 and 30.5%
respectively. Household livelihood security indices were used to assess the socio-economic conditions
of fishers.
Description
Keywords
Reservoir fishing, gini coefficient, composite index, livelihood security