Socio-economic survey to be undertaken of Kerala fisherfolk

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 6 (IANS) Kerala Fisheries Minister K. Babu Thursday allocated Rs.1.71 million for a socio-economic survey of the state's fisherfolk.

"The situation today is that there are no proper statistics of the fisherfolk in the state and what is there is inadequate. Without a proper data bank on them, we find it difficult to formulate proper programmes for them," said Babu.

The survey would be carried out by the state fisheries department and would look into the health, assets held by them, educational qualifications, economic status and other similar aspects.

The fisheries sector in the state contributes to three percent of the gross state domestic product and the state's share in national marine fish production is about 25 percent.

As per the Economic Review of the state Planning Board, the estimated fisherfolk population during 2010-11 is about 11.52 lakh.

The total number of fisherfolk dwelling in the coastal area is around 8.8 lakh, while 2.36 lakh are involved actively in the inland fisheries sector.

Alappuzha, with a 1.93 lakh fisherfolk population, leads the 14 districts in the state , followed by the capital district with 1.90 lakh and Ernakulam with 1.53 lakh comes next.