INDIA 



Shrimp fishing in India has existed for centuries but has be- 

 cone commercially important only during the last decade. Primarily, 

 this is a result of expansion of export markets, the entrance of foreign 

 capital into the industry, and the enco\iragement and assistance given 

 to the industry by the Central and State Governments of India and by 

 the United Nations, the Colombo Plan, and the Indo-American Technical 

 Cooperation Agreement. Despite this attention, the shrimp fisheries of 

 India yield only a small fraction of what they could produce if the re- 

 source were exploited in a fashion comparable to the scale it is ex- 

 ploited in Europe, North America, and Japan, 



Available data on shriuip production indicate that the Indian 

 shrimp catch is second only to, if not greater than that of the United 

 States. Official statistical information on the shrimp catch is not 

 available. Estimates reported by Indian Fisheries Authorities at the 

 Sixth Session of the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council place the catch of 

 shrimp for the years 19^0-$h at an average of about 185 million pounds 

 annually. The 19Sh and 1955 catch estimates were as high as 300 

 million pounds each or double the estimated average annual catch for 

 the period 1950-53. The bulk of India's shrimp production consists of 

 young and immature shrimp caught in estuaries and in tidal waters. 

 Shrimp fishing in India, for the most part, is primitive in nature. 

 Modem methods of fishing and mechanized equipment, to a modest extent, 

 have only been employed since the entrance of foreign interests into 

 the industry in recent years. There has been very little deep-sea 

 (Uo fathofts and over) trawling off the Indian coasts. At present there 

 are no craft equipped for deep-sea fishing in the country, although the 

 opportunities for developing a fishery"- of this sort are excellent. 



Shrimp fishing is concentrated in the coastal areas of 

 Bombay, Malabar, and Andhra. The catch of shrimp by principal areas 

 is shoim belovj (as reported by Indian Fisheries Authorities at the 

 Sixth Session of the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council, FAO - United 

 Nations, Tol<yo, September 30, 1955): 



5-year 

 Area 1950 1951 1952 1953 19Sh Average 



( In thousands of pounds ) 



Bombay area 1/ 128,930 128,253 136,67k ni,k72 315, 056 176,077 



Malabar area 2/ 18, 57^; 2a,61i7 19,958 5,8i42 lli,668 16,738 



Andhra area 3/ 15,06U 10, 39^; 8,808 11,980 5,805 10,i4l0 



All other areas 2,507 6,011 i;,319 10,636 i;,U78 5,591 



Total 165,075 169,308 169,759 199,930 3Uo,007 208,816 



1/ Ratnagiri to Broach. 



"2/ Hangalore to Cape Comorin. 



"3/ Madras to Visakhapatnam. 



Note: Data on the catch of shrimp are based on sample surveys conducted 

 by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Station, 



U2 



