2. DEFINITION
FAO/Netherlands (1991) defined sustainability
as
. . . the management and conservation of the
natural resource base and the orientation of
technological and institutional change in such a
manner as to ensure the attainment and
continued satisfaction of human needs for present
and future generations. Such sustainable
development (in agriculture, forestry and fisheries
sectors) conserves land, water, plant and animal
resources and is environmentally non-degrading,
technically appropriate, economically viable and
socially acceptable.
3.
4. “Auto pollutionary”
effects of aquaculture
activities were not
ignored, the total
amount of waste
discharged from
aquatic farms, and its
impact on
development programs
were seldom
recognized.
Pollutionary effects of waste discharges from aquatic
farms
Nordic countries, the Norwegian
Institute of Water Research (NIVA) surveyed waste
discharges from salmonid cage farms in Norway
feed-based pollution of
4255tons of P and
20 286 tons of N
Salmon Weighing
290000 tones
(Bergheim, 2000).
5. Controlled use
of natural
resources
Polyculture, Since external feeding is not required, bivalves constitute a primary
product and serve as biofilters in the integrated system. They can be managed as
polyculture constituents with marine and brackishwater plants and animals that make
use of the dissolved nutrients and organic matter (Negroni, 2000).
Oyster rack having 460 000
oysters could produce about
16 tons of Faecal matter in one
season (Nunes and Parsons,
1998).
Single mussel can filter about
2–5 litres of water per day.
Further, bivalves can retain
35–40 per cent of seston ingested
(Barg, 1992).
• The prerequisite for “sustainable development” is the
controlled use of natural resources on a renewable
basis to meet food security of increasing populations
and their economic growth.
6. Socioeconomics
• ……is the social science that studies how economic
activity affects and is shaped by social processes.
Generally, it analyzes how societies progress, stagnate
or regress because of their local or regional economy, or
the global economy. Societies are divided into 3 groups:
social, cultural and economic.
• Globally, 18.7 million people currently work as fish
farmers and, as with fisheries, this figure increases by
three- to fourfold if secondary and post-harvest
employment is included (FAO 2016).
7. Demography
The demographic pattern provides information on the
age distribution and sex composition and may be
expressed in terms of minor adult proportion and extent
of gender equity prevailing in a society. It is indicator of
the working hands available for the production and
domestic purposes.
It may be attributed to nature of fisher families operating
in different fisheries waters.
“In case of riverine fishers, most of the families were
nuclear, while for estuarine wetlands it was joint”
8. Literacy
The status of literacy among fisher community of inland
fisheries waters in India has improved over the period.
Now, the fishers send their children to schools. Yet,
literacy rates for the fisher community were low
The overall scenario may be attributed to poverty,
involvement of female children in domestic and
household economic activities from childhood,
ignorance of parents about girl’s education etc.
9. Standard of
Living
Housing characteristics are the one of the major
indicators of standard of living. Most of the fishing
community lived in hut and kaccha houses
The estimates for number of persons per room indicated
that nearly 4 to over 5.5 persons had to adjust in a room.
Such crowded housing conditions affected their health
and quality of life. In some of the households more than
seven persons lived in a room. The scenario was worst
in Bihar floodplain wetlands with maximum percentage
of Kuccha houses with more number of persons per
room.
10. Fishing Assets
The ownership of fishing assets largely depends on the
socio-economic of the fishers and institutional framework
followed for fishing operation.
In rivers, most of the fishers were operating individually,
therefore, maximum percentage of them owned the gears and
craft.
In floodplains of Bihar, fisher co-operatives had taken the
fishing rights, but it did not provide the fisheries requisites.
In West Bengal floodplains fisheries co-operatives were
functioning very efficiently in most of the wetlands and
provided the gears and crafts to the fishers for commercial
fishing.
“However, the fishers fished the non-stocked fishes with their
own assets”
11. EMPLOYMENT
-This may be due to less number of earners and low
livelihood opportunities in these waters. Low livelihood
options also led to migration of fishers for either fishing
or other source of employment.
Source-Katiha, Pradeep & Ekka,Anjana. (2013). Socio-economic issues in Inland Fisheries.
12. CONCLUSION
The existing explanations of livelihood outcomes in artisanal
fisheries and extended them by considering a wider range of
factors that may influence inland fishers’ social, economic
and institutional status.
It revealed that institutional factors play important role in
their social status, employment or livelihood options,
remunerations and overall socio-economic situation.
It also highlighted immense scope for socio-economic
upliftment of this community through need based initiatives
and fisher friendly policy measures.