lndian Journal

lndian J. Ecol. (2013) a)Q) :290-296 of Ecology

Electronic Display Boards (EDBs) for Fisheries Advisory Services in

Maharashtra
Suhas Wasave, Lloyd Chrispin, Apu Das, Sandeep Pedapoli,
Brijesh Kumar Choudhury and Arpita Sharma*
r==-.- : i.tversi,, n:ri::::i::,':"ii?;::,:,',:;'::::::i,
*
Mumbai - 4000 61
E -mai I: arpita shar m a@cife. ed u. i n

Abstra cr : -r-.' :. : : . : - -.::af : role in lndian ec.nomy. While on the kip to fishing, the fishers mostly rely on the Indigenous Technica
<'.:,..=. -. =-:::-::-: i..e"encestocatchthefishes. Indian NationalCentre forOcean Information System (lNCOIS), Hyderabac
s:?:i:::.s:-.,.i-.:::..-::e^:aFishingZone(PFZ)throughtheElectronicDisplayBoards(EDBs)whichprovidesinformationabout
a'a..= a a:'.a" -. =,=- -: ::-as aror reaching to the particular ground on the scientific Catch Per Unit Efforts and assured minimum
-=:-'_:::::. -.::-i-':, -.-e fishers. INCOIS provides advisory services in Maharashtra too. Status of Electronic Display Eoards
-::: ,- :- :-:. :. ::: -.:-. :es and are installed by INCOIS in the fishing villages of l\rumbai, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts oi
'.'.-.'z:'-= .:: : -: a: :_: a,.,areness of EDBS, its usefulness amongst the fishers was also studied. ltwas reporled by the fishers
:-=:::::': -':--'=:' '.garding pelagic fisheries whereas fisher targets for commercially valid crustaceans/fishes (most of them
=r
:-.:-:-i: ='=.--=:-:- --.ageofEDBs. In addition to this, ihe trust in and usage of lTKs in fishing is more than the technological ioputs
- I . - I : - : - ':: .- . .':' '... . .atches highlighting the importance of lTKs. Integration of lTKs with modern technological tool is thus
a,::aa-::

'eiy on the Indigenous Technical
^:.'. :::= a'a :3'sonal exoeriences to catch
\^-: :':-= ': :'=:::ed bv fishers to detect fish in sea
:-: :-a --' .',a'.=' : -.'ess of water, water current, wind
,',.-..'::-:='a:ure, Dresence of birds on the sea
S-=- = e: al.2012). When fishers reach the
.^. ' -: 'ew or no fish thev face financial
:s: =s :-= , '=.: z'zady spent valuable resources like
- :-.. : - '-: -: ,'.: as their time and energy which result
raddition to this, drastic exploitation
ooth the mechanized and motorized
-..' '.'. :.:a:es within the contiouous zone has
.'? -: ^3:3r of 'no resource for growth' tag to
':s: -'ces. To mitigate these problems
- Siand U.S.S.R started satellite based
^3-* a::- s.s:3- :3 predict the tsunamis, cyclones and
l^ the same lines. Government of India
s:aie: a:, s:-.. se^, ces for Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ),
J:=z^ S:::= =:'e:ast (OSF) which provides information
a::-::'::a: = :::ertial fishing zones prior reaching to the
.?-:- ?' J':-"j on the scientific bases. Such advisory
se-. les -a.e ceen developed by Indian National Centre
f:'Ocea. ^rcrnr311en System (lNCO|S), Hyderabad which
,',as esiaa srec rn the year 1992 (Annual Report, lNCO|S,
1998-99i lt:as arm to increase the Catch Per Unit Efforts
TCPUE r anC assured minimum returns to the daily
investment by the fishers. The study undertaken by INCOIS
on usefulness of PFZ advisory to the fishers noticed that
fishing in the PFZ areas showed a significant increase in
the revenue generated with the average CPUE recorded
fisheS. from the vessels operating in the PFZ areas was as 33.01
kgh-l and from the non-PFZ locations the CPUE recorded
was 30.15 kghl. lt showed an increase of approximately
15-20% in the revenue when vessels fished in the PFZ
areas and this was estimated on the assumption that the
skipper has no prior knowledge on the location of the INCOIS
derived PFZ (Annual Report, CIFT, 2010 - 11).
The PFZ advisories are generated for the use of
artisanal, motorized and small mechanized sector fishers
engaged in pelagic fishing activities such as ring seining
gill netting, etc., to help them in reducing the searching time
which in turn result in the saving of valuable fuel oil anc
also human effort (Annual Report, Ministry of Earth Science
2007 - 0B). Narayankumar ef. al. (2009) reported that the
catches in PFZ area gave more CPUE and net profit
compared to the results of the operation in non-PFZ. Furthe.
they stated that in Kerala, a reduction in searching time tc
an extent of 60-70% for oil sardines and 30-40o/o for
mackerels was observed after following the PFZ advisories
The commissioning of satellite OCEANSAT in 1999
which provides the real-time pictures of ocean colour
(chlorophyll-A) along with Sea Surface Temperature (SST
has helped the organisation in identifying the Potentia
Fishing Zone (PFZ), which was one of the main pre-
requisites for economical fishing activity (lNCOlS, 2012)
The PFZ Advisories are reaching to 500 villages i landing
centres, covering the entire coast line of India under 12
 Electronic Dispray Boards (EDBs) for Fisheries Advisorv
291

sectors, viz. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and

Goa, Harnai-Paj, fishing viilages in Ratnagiri and Dandi-Marvan,
{erala, south ramir Nadu, North ramir Nadu. south
:'adesh, North Andhra pradesh,
Andhra in Sindhudurg where the EDBs are installed. Inrervrew
orissa and west Bengar, method and observation was used to coilect informatron.
-akshadweep rsrands, Andaman rsrands and Nicobar The study was conducted in 2012.
slands. Totar 384 pFZ advisories prepared in the
rocal
:nguages and rocar measurement units are disseminated RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
:-nce a week (on every Monday, Wednesday and
Friday) status of Erectronic Dispray Boards (EDB) in Maharashtra
:rd are supplied by INCOIS during the non_ban, non_ ln Mumbai district, EDB is instailed at a fishing viilage
-snsoon and cloud free period through innovative and
novel Versova on the first froor of Nakhwa Mandar (Trawrers
: tiatives such as erectronic dispray boards and information
Associations) office in association with rNCors,
, osks, Doordarshan, print media, crFE,
e_mails and through Mumbai and Nakhwa Mandal, which is very near to
'.cols website suppremented with fax and terephone to the fish
landing centre. At Versova two visits were made
in the month
= coastal fishing viilages/fish randing centres. There are of November. However, at the time of visits, the EDB
:.er 100 000 mechanised fishing vessels, out of which was
not working.
=:out 60000 are utirising pFZ advisories. In addition to the
-echanised boats, there are more than 100000 At Ratnagiri district, two EDBs are instailed, one is in
traditional Mirkan'rada fishing viilage and another is in the fishing
'sring crafts. (Kumar, 2011). viilage
Harnai-Paj, Taluka, Dapoli. In Mirkarwada, two visits
were
Among the disseminating system of rNCors, internet made in the month of september and November
--J FAX are serving individuar fisher but the where it
Erectronic was reported that the EDB instailed in coilaboration
I splay Boards (EDBs) are serving many number of
of fishers lNCols, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada Vidyapeeth
=: a time. In Maharashtra, four Electronic Display Boards and Department of Fisheries, Maharashtra state.
-)B's) were instailed in fishing whereas
viilages namery, Versova in Harnai-Paj the EDB was found instailed in coilaboration
-:'eater Mumbai district) Mirkarwada and Harnai-paj with lNCols, and Department of Fisheries, Maharashtra
=atnagiri district) and Dandi- Marvan (sindhudurg district). state. At the time of visit, both the EDBs were
--e dissemination of pFZ on these found in non
digitar dispray boaros working condition.
"=s started in February,2002. The response from fishers At Sindhudurg district EDB is instailed in the fishing
urS W€?k until the year2006 (Bhaware
et al,20i0). In the village Dandi-Marvan in coilaboration of rNCorS
:-:sent study, status of Electronic Display Boards (EDBs) and
Department of Fisheries, Maharashtra state.
-sialled by lNCols established At Sindhudurg,
at Greater Mumbai, visit was made twice in the month of September
:::nagiri and sindhudurg ano
districts of Maharashtra was November. However, the EDB was not found to
be in working
;-Jied in order to assess the awareness of EDBs condition.
and its
':efulness amongst the fishers. In addition to this, The information on status of Erectronic Dispray Boards
-:rmation was arso coilected as regards to extent of usage (EDBs) in Maharashtra is presented in brief in
:'IDBs by the fishers to get the advisory services. tabre 1.
Awareness about the usefurness of EDB among
fishers i the
MATERIALAND METHODS
As regards to the awareness about the presence
Information was coilected by visiting ail the of
fishing EDB in the village among the fishers it was found
ages i.e., Verosva in Greater Mumbai, Mikanvada that in
and fishing village Versova, Mumbai where EDB is
instailed at
1' status of Erectronic Dispray Boards (EDBs)
in Maharashrra
Greater Mumbai
- :- ng village Ratnagiri Sindhudurgh
Versova Mirkarwada, Harnai-pai
Malvan
;:rcylservice Provioer INCOIS, CIFE, lNCO|S, Mirkarwada lNCOlS, Harnai-paj lNCOlS, Shree
Nakhwa Mandal Adarsh Macchimar Fishing Trading and Rameshwar
(Trawler Association) Sahakari Sanstha Credit Co-operative Macchimar Sahakarr
Maryadit, Mirkarwada Society Ltd- Paj- Society Maryadit,
Pandhari Malvan
:':et fishers Trawlers Trawlers/ purse Trawlers/ purse Trawlers
- seine - seine
-' of initiation 2008 2002 2002
-:-, 'ces offered 2008
PFZ PFZ PFZ PFZ
2:2 S--as V/asave, Lloyd Chrispin, Apu Das, Sandeep Pedapoli, Brijesh Kumar Choudhury and Arpita Sharma
:^e khwa Mandal (Trawlers Associations) office,
,Va
'rernbers of the Nakhwa Mandal were aware about the
EDB. But, the fishers who were not members of Nakhwa
lllanddwere not aware of the presence of EDB'
At Ratnagiri district, two EDBs are installed' one is in
lr,likarwada fishing village and another is in the fishing village
Harnai-Paj, where as in Sindhudurg district, the EDB is
installed in the fishing village Dandi-Manlvan. Most of the
fishers of Mirkanvada and even the nearby fishing villages
were found to be aware of the EDB and fishers were
frequently using the information when EDB was in working
condition. Harnai-Paj and Dandi-Malvan fishers were also
aware of the presence of the EDB at their respective villages
and they frequently availed the information during its
operational condition.
Awareness about the usefulness of EDB among the
fishers
In Mumbai district, fishing village Versova it was
reported that there was awareness about the usefulness
of EDBs by only those fishers who were members of
Nakhwa mandal and had attended awareness campaigns
organized by lNCOlS, CIFE and Nakhwa mandal.
At Ratnagiri district, it was reported that the College of
Fisheries, Ratnagiri conducted special awareness
programmes in the village Mirkarwada and Harnai-Paj. The
fishers reported that they were very well acquainted with the
usefulness of EDB installed at their place.
In Sindhudurg, information about the utility of EDB was
provided to the fishers by Department of Fisheries at the
time of its installation but there was lack of awareness
regarding usefulness of EDBs amongst the fishers'
with reference to the frequency/extent of services offered
through the EDBs it was reported by the fishers that initially
when the programme started, EDBs were in a working state.
But after some time all the three EDBs were non-functioning
and unable to provide PFZ advisory services.
It was reported by the fishers of Malvan fishing village
that when the EDB was working, only few of the fishers
were utilising the information. Further enquiry revealed that
most of the fishers were operating gill nets and shore seine
(rampan) and according to the fishers EDBs were unable
to provide suitable information for these operations.
At Ratnagiri, when the EDBs were in working condition,
most of the fishers especially purse -seine owners of
Mirkarwada fishing village and Harnai-Pai fishing village
availed the information. The fishers of Ratnagiri and Hamai-
Paj also revealed that the PFZ advisory was providing the
information which was 60-70% valid especially in case for
purse-seiners. A study by Bhaware ef' al' (2010) have
reported that overall the PFZ advisories were found to b=
more beneficial to the purse-seine and trawl fisheries tha-
to the gill net fishery for the fishers of Ratnagiri district.
During study, one interesting thing was reported tha:
even the EDBs of Mirkanrrada and Harnai-Paj were n::
supplying information; the fishers of that region wer?
availing PFZ advisory directly through email and intemet :
was reported that this was due to the awarenes:
programmes conducted by College of Fisheries, Ratnag -
in which fishers have been explained the importance c'
PFZ advisory and demonstration has been done for the
fishers how to avail the information on email and interne:
It is reported that, INCOIS organises field awareness
campaigns at various fishing harbours with actit''e
participation of fishers for providing information on PFZ
Advisory Service and the benefits of the PFZ to the fishing
community (Annual Report, Ministry of Earth Science, 2007-
08).
But the fishers of Mirkarwada and Harnai-Paj alsc
attended awareness programme conducted by college of
Fisheries, Ratnagiri. With reference to the extent of usage
of EDBs by the fishers to get the advisory services, it was
reported by fishers of all villages that even when EDBs were
in working state, fishers do not rely completely on it. Reasons
reported were that EDBs only provides information
regarding pelagic fisheries whereas fishers target
commercially valid crustaceans/fishes (most of them are
demersal). In addition to this, the trust in and usage of lTKs
in fishing always outsmarts such technological inputs, in
giving ensured and profitable catches highlighting the
importance of lTKs.
EDBs can act as effective ICT tool in providing
information to fishers. lf they are located in common and
accessible place majority of fishers can take advantage of
it. The study has revealed that the EDBs installed in
Maharashtra are not in working condition. lt is suggested
that working of the EDBs be ensured. Moreover, it is
suggested that the services provided be species specific'
In case of Versova fishing village, services are not of much
use as trawler owners target demersal fish but the PFZ
services are for pelagic fishery. The PFZ services in Ratnagiri
was used by fishers as majority of fishers have purse-seine
and trawl nets hence and PFZ information is very much
related to them. At Malvan fishing village the fishers are
using gill net fishery and shore siene. The advisory services
are useful to a certain extent but to make it more useful the
services should be focused on gill netters. The advisory
services can be further strengthened with the use of mobile
phones as its usage is common among the fishers and
 Electronic Display Boards (EDBs) for Fisheries Advisory
ndividual fishers can be targeted in provrding them with the
'equired information. This is evident from the success of
SMS based advisory services provided by MSSRF in Tamil
\adu and Andhra Pradesh (Chrispin el a\.,2012 and
f,edapoli, 2012).In addition to this, the trust in and usage of
TKs in fishing is more than the technological inputs, in
3iving ensured and profitable catches highlighting the
rrportance of lTKs. So it is suggested that the modern
:echnological methods be integrated with the lTKs used by
'ishers.
REFERENCES
{nnual Report (2007-2008) Ministry of Earth Sciences. P. 171
i,nnual Report (1998-99) Indian National Centre for Ocean
Information Services (Deot. of Ocean Develooment. Govt. of
India). p. 16
innual Report (2010-11)Central Institute of Fisheries Technology
Indian Council of Agricultural Research. p. 183
Sharma Arpita, Rupam Sharma, G Venugopal, S.P. Shukla, Suresh
Babu and Paromita Banerjee (2012) ITK in Fisheries Sector of
West Coast, India, Published by NPH, New Delhi p.212
?eceived 6 April, 2013; Accepted 10 October, 2013
4J:
Bhaware B. G, R. S. Tingote, S. N. Khade and U. H r.'a-: r,
Marine Fishes captured under PFZ and non-P;Z ':;:-s
' I s:- ::
through satellite imagery along the coast of the Ratnag
Maharashtra State. SAFARI Symposium on Remote Se^s -:
and Fisheries. February 15-17, p. 13.
C. Lloyd Chrispin, P.S. Ananthan, M. Krishnan and P. Mahalaks^-
(2012) Effectiveness of lnstitutional Arrangements for Del . e-..
of Potential Fishing Zone and Ocean State Forecast Adviso-.,
Serviccs to Fishers in Tamil Nadu. Agric. Econ. Res. Rev 25
485-493
Anil Kumar P (Ed) (2011) Satellite-based advisories to cover all
fishing communities. Infofish Fishing Technology Digest. lssue
No.76
Pedapoli Sandeep (2012) ICT based extension interventions rn
fisheries and aquaculture development in Andhra Pradesh. M.
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R. Narayanakumar, R. Sathiadhas and N. Aswathy (2009) Economic
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http ://www. i n co i s. gov. i n/l ncoi s/i n co i s 1 024 lin d ex/i ndex.j sp
Retrieved on 18/1 212012