Insight into the Socio-economic Life of Fishers of Loktak Lake, Manipur - A Ramsar Site

Abstract

Loktak lake, with an area of about 26 000 ha is the
largest fishery resource of Manipur accounting for
more than 50% of the fish producing area and it is
also known as the lifeline of the state as around 12%
of the people of Manipur depend on its resources.
There are around 50 400 fishers dependent on
Loktak lake. Fishing has been an age old practice of
the communities around the lake who largely
depend on it for their livelihood. A study of the
present socio-economic status of the fishers of
Loktak lake, Manipur was performed through direct
interview of fishers using semi-structured interview
schedule. The study revealed that 56.7% of the
fishers belonged to age above 45 years, 35% had
attained secondary education, 97.5% had kachcha
house, 75% were occupied in fishing as primary
activity and 36.7% had more than 16 years of
experience in fisheries. A total of 46.7% of fishers had
agricultural land and 35% of them had ring bunds
for fish culture. The average annual income of the
fishers was ` 42 222 and 51% of them had Below
Poverty Line ration cards. The study found that the
highest annual expenditure was spent on food (53%)
followed by fisheries (17%). About 15.8% of fishers
were indebted with credit above ` 15 000 and only
20% of fishers were found to have savings deposited
either in Government banks or local non–formal
organizations called “Marupâ€. Engel’s coefficient
was 53% indicating the poor living condition of
fishers of the lake which draws appropriate initiatives
by concerned government organizations.