Structural Changes in Mechanised Trawl Fleet along Maharashtra Coast, India

Trawl fisheries is an important component in marine capture fisheries of the major contributing state of India like Maharashtra. In spite of the issues like overfishing, overcapacity and destruction caused, trawlers continue to contribute to major catch in India. Since the introduction of trawlers in many parts of India, there are structural changes due to technological interventions regarding design, construction and numbers of craft and gears. Of the 5613 trawlers in Maharashtra, 2849 trawlers were operated in Greater Mumbai. Considering the importance of the trawlers operated, the present study attempted to study the composition of trawlers, operational details of single-day and multi-day fishing and changing trend of trawl fisheries along Mumbai coast. The study was conducted from August 2016 to April 2018 at the major 3 landing centres of the Greater Mumbai i.e., Versova, Sassoon Dock (SSD) and New Ferry Wharf (NFW). Trawlers of length ranged between 16 to 17 m were dominant at Versova while 17-18 m were dominant at SSD and NFW. The dominant installed engine horsepower at Versova, SSD and NFW were 50 to 100, 150-200 and 100-150 respectively. The relationship between length overall (LOA) of trawlers and engine horsepower showed that the value of installed engine power was according to LOA at Versova while this was not true in the case of SSD and NFW. Fibre material for hull construction is on the rise due to its low cost of maintenance. The study reported larger vessels with higher horsepower were involved in multi-day fishing. Multi-day vessels tend to have the fishing endurance of 2 to 23 days. Trawl fisheries of Mumbai coast have undergone major structural changes regarding catch, number of vessels and type of trawling. The study suggested the need for restriction on the installed engine horsepower, number of trawlers operated and strict implementation of mesh size regulation. The study also suggested proper regulation of the vessel registration in the case of trawlers operated at SSD to avoid misuse of the registration for purse-seining.