World fisheries production has increased in the last decades
and has roughly crossed 1, 68, and 42,900 metric
tons during 2005-06. India ranks 3rd among the fish producing
countries of the world. Fisheries production has an
important place in Indian economy. Contribution of fishery
sector to gross domestic product (GDP) of India is about
1.38 percentage (Swain, 2007). India is also exhibited an
increase in fish production in both marine and fresh water.
The fish export from India is also rising.
The fishermen community responsible for exploiting the
fishery resources is still a neglegted community and 85% of
the total population is below poverty line (BPL) (Sahu, 2000).
The total inland fishermen population of India was estimated
around 9 lakh people in 2007. There is dearth of systematic
data on the socio-economic status of these fishermen population.
It has been felt that there urgent need to carryout
systematic study on fishermen population and formulation of
schemes to help them to improve the overall status. Unlike
marine fishermen, the inland fishermen population are scattered
throughout the country and their dependence on fisheries
varies. Hence local surveys made to be conducted to
understand the extent of dependence on fisheries sand their
by devising a policy approach to suit the local need.
The fishermen were classified into fulltime, part-time and
occasional, depending on the number of fishing days they
undertake in a year (Anon, 1982).
The study indicated that the general socio-economic status
of the fishermen community could be improved by the
adoption of improved fishing and fish farming methods
and by imparting education. Hence, an attempt was made
to conduct a study on the socio-economic status of the
fishermen community of the village at the micro-level.