Year: 2017 | Month: March | Volume 62 | Issue 1
Assessment of Economic Losses due to Inadequate Post-Harvest Infrastructure Facilities for Marine Fisheries in Gujarat
DOI:10.5958/0976-4666.2017.00020.1
Abstract:
The study examines the economic losses on account of inadequate post-harvest infrastructure facilities for the marine fisheries sector in Gujarat, India. The primary data were collected during month of October 2015 covering three periods spread in the year 2014 & 2015 (October 2014 to September 2015) from three fishing harbours i.e. Veraval, Porbandar and Mangrol of Gujarat. It was observed that the post harvest infrastructure in marine sector in Gujarat seems to have received less attention. It is also true that as the industry has been pre-occupied with the exports, no major initiatives have been made for the development of the domestic market, mainly due to less demand. By and large, fish is sold in the most unhygienic conditions and this area needs considerable intervention in the coming period. Fishing harbours are being developed at both major and minor ports. However, the condition of washing and cleaning facilities available at selected harbours was unsatisfactory at Porbandar and Mangrol while same was very poor at Veraval harbor. Also the facilities like clean landing platform and cold storage/chill plants within the harbour premises and availability of insulated storage boxes on board the fishing vessel need to be ensured. The harbors like Porbandar and Veraval are overcrowded due to less space in harbor region and large number of boats parked there than its capacity. Because of same, fish catch exceeds the capacity of harbor. On an average, the economic loss due to inadequate post-harvest infrastructure facilities was estimated to be ` 18 per kg of fish caught. The major reasons for losses at this stage were physical damage during fishing and spoilage due to improper icing, whereas very minimal share was loss due to fish being eaten away by birds. The motorized trawlers followed by gill netters are major causes for fish losses. Therefore, there is a need of expansion of harbor regions as well as constructions of more number of jetties/landing platforms, along with proper maintenance of those infrastructures for minimizing economic losses.
© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Print This Article Email This Article to Your Friend
