A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE PRAWN FISHERY OF BIG TRAWLERS ALONG THE NORTHEAST COAST OF INDIA

Abstract

The number of big trawlers operating along the northeast coast increased
from 55 in 1983-84 to 76 in 1985-86, increasing the prawn landings from 2353 t
in 1983-84 to 3043 t in 1985-86. Catch per hour of trawling reached a peak in
1984-85 (20.1 kg) and then declined in 1985-86 (16.5 kg). The proportion of
'tigers' (8%), 'whites' (30%) and 'browns' (62%) was more or less stable during
the three-year period.
There was a gradual increase in abundance of 'tigers' from 11 m depth to
60 m depth and a gradual decrease thereafter. The 'whites' were more abundant in
11-40 m depth. The abundance of 'browns' gradually increased from 11 m to 100
m depth. There are good fishing grounds in Sandheads I arid off Paradeep and
Chilka for tigers', off Paradeep, Gopalpur and Kalingapatnam and in Sandheads
II for 'whites', off Anchorage, Sunderbans and Gopalpur for 'browns'.
The potential yield of prawns from the trawling grounds between Pentakota
and the Sunderbans is estimated at 6559 t. As the present harvest from this region
is 5424 t, there is scope for an addition of 28 more trawlers to the existing fleet
of 76.