Fisheries form one of the most important sectors of Kerala's economy. Kerala is a coastal state and is bordered on the west by the marine flora and fauna rich Arabian Sea. The coastline of the state runs to a length of about 590km. The territorial limits of the state is about 22 kms from the sea shore and the total are covered by the sea that falls within this territory comes up to around 13,000 square kilometers. This is the area in which the marine fishermen of the state are allowed to venture. The shallow seabed surrounding the state of Kerala comes to around 3919 square kilometers. This is the most fertile region of the Arabian Sea as far as fisheries are concerned. The potential of the state in terms of marine fisheries is believed to be about 5.17 lakh tones. Not only do the fisheries contribute to about 3 percent of the economy of Kerala they also earn the state a great deal of foreign exchange and goodwill. The fisheries of the state are famous all over the world and are exported to Europe and America among other parts of the globe. At present the state of Kerala produces about 6 lakh tones of marine fishes every year.

The Government of Kerala is actively involved in overseeing the fisheries sector and in promoting its activities in the state. The Department of Fisheries implements the Governments visions and schemes in this sector. It is actively involved in the development and management of fisheries in the region. The welfare and upliftment of the fisher folk of the state also comes under the purview of the Department of Fisheries, Government of Kerala. A number of programs and projects for this purpose have been undertaken by this department.

Kerala is blessed with an immense measure of fresh water fishery resource as well. The state's 44 rivers (85,000 ha), 53 Reservoirs (42890ha), and 53 backwaters and other brackish water bodies (65213 ha) endow it with a multitude of fisheries Besides the marine life bestowed by the sea these inland water resources contribute significantly to the growth of the fishing industry in the state. This is substantiated by the fact that the inland fish yield level of the state is currently at about 75036 tonnes a year. The following table represents the trends in fish production over the past few years as per the Directorate of Fisheries.

Fish Production (lakh tonnes)

Year	Marine	Inland	Total
1988-89	3.75	0.28	4.03
1989-90	6.46	0.33	5.79
1990-91	6.78	0.36	7.14
1991-92	5.4	0.4	5.8
1992-93	5.53	0.42	5.95
1993-94	5.59	0.45	6.04
1994-95	5.49	0.48	5.97
1995-96	5.53	0.5	5.83
1996-97	6.61	0.52	7.13
1997-98	5.11	0.58	5.69
1998-99	5.82	0.66	6.48
1999-00	5.94	0.74	6.68

The total populace of fisher folk residing in the state of Kerala is an estimated 10.85 lakhs. Among these the number of fishermen who have taken up marine fishing as their occupation is believed to be about 2.2 lakhs. They and their families have taken up domicile in the coastal areas of the state and built up hamlets of hutments in these regions. The inland fishing sector engages about 50 thousand fishermen in active fishing. In the state of Kerala about 165 thousands people are engaged in allied activities of the fishery sector. The workers of units involved in drying, preserving, packaging, transporting and exporting the fishes and seafood are included in this count.

Fisheries is a prime and growing sector of the Kerala economy. The government is making every possible effort to cash in on the spectacular potential of the marine biodiversity which is a blessing and a treasured resource of the state. It is imperative that the private players in this sector also need to contribute in maintaining the ecological balance, in non-exploitation of the fishermen and in implementation of the schemes devised by the Government of Kerala. Only then can this sector continue to grow, generate more and more employment opportunities and continue to remain productive for all those who are involved in its activities.

Last Updated on 27 May 2011

Economy of Kerala