The bulk of India's shrimp catch consists of young and immature 

 shrimp caught in estuaries and in tidewaters. Production could be in- 

 creased if greater efforts were made to tap the resources of deeper waters, 

 to develop shrinp fishing in the Kutch area, and to increase the area de- 

 voted to shrimp farming. Exploratory trawling could be conducted to a 

 depth of [jO fathoms to determine if exploitable concentrations of shrimp 

 exist. The Kutch area has immediate possibilities and could be fished 

 during the monsoon period. 



Vast supplies of shrLmp have been reported by an FAO fishery 

 engineer as being available in about a li-nile-uide strip extending from 

 Beypore north to Mangalore, a distance of about lUo miles. Depths range 

 from 1 to 5 fathoms. These shrimp reportedly average U to 5 inches in 

 length and have been caught in substantial quantities in small trawls 

 towed by a 10-horsepower open boat. 



It is estimated that there are 2,000 square miles of "culturable" 

 but at present barren water in the form of tidal estuaries, swamps, and 

 backwaters which, if placed under shrimp farming, could augment Indian 

 production of shrimp. As a result of experiments recently conducted by 

 fishery authorities at Narakal, it was determined that at least 800 pounds 

 of shrimp per acre could be harvested annually from such areas. 



India is slowly expanding its use of modern shrimp-fishing 

 methods and equipment, but will have to do more along these lines to boost 

 production and exports. There is a need for modern trat/lers and gear in 

 the fishery, and new methods of preserving, packaging, and marketing must 

 be adopted to help the industry attain the goals envisaged for it. 



The availability of export markets for Indian shrirq) should pro- 

 vide a powerful incentive for the expansion of the shrimp fisheries. The 

 recent visit of a Burmese purchasing mission to India, it is reported, 

 resulted in orders for Indian dried shrinp to the extent of 3 million 

 rupees ($600,000). There is also a strong demand in the export market 

 for frozen shrimp, and an Indian firm reports (1956) that it has an offer 

 from a United States importer for well over a million pounds of frozen 

 shrimp per month. 



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