Major Exploited Shellfish Fisheries in India

2. •India is one of the major producers of marine crustaceans.
One of the crustacean groups, penaeid shrimps belong to the
family Penaeidae of the class Crustacea under the phylum
Arthropoda. The penaeid shrimps constitute the backbone of
seafood export industry as the major foreign exchange earner
as well as a source of livelihood for millions of fishermen.
Frozen shrimp contributes to about 70% of the total export
value of our country and the share of capture fisheries is about
60% in quantity.
•They are distributed along both the east and west coasts of
India

3.  Important species of penaeid shrimps that form
commercial fisheries along the Indian seas are
Fenneropenaeus indicus (Indian white prawn), P.
semisulcatus (Green tiger prawn), P. monodon (Giant
tiger prawn)
 P. japonicus are the major constituents of penaeid
fishery along west coast. Penaeus semisulcatus
dominate the fishery at Tuticorin. P. semisulcatus, M.
stridulans and T. pescadorensis are the common
species along Mandapam coast.
Common Shrimp Species

4.  Landings of penaeid shrimps showed about six fold
increase from 32,000 t to 1, 69, 741 t.
 The increase is mainly due to intense trawling operation
in inshore waters, increase in effort, extension of trawling
to deeper waters, introduction of multiday fishing
operations, night trawling and introduction of innovative
gears in the artisanal sector.
 About three fourth of the catch is harvested along the
west coast and the rest is from the east coast. Kerala,
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka are the important contributors to penaeid
landings in the order of abundance.
Production Trend

5.  Trawl net is the principal gear used for the exploitation of
penaeid shrimps. Trawlers contribute to about 80% of
penaeid landing of India.
 Smaller varieties of penaeids are caught by dol nets along
northwest coast. Mini trawls are operated from
Murivalloms along Kerala coast for penaeid shrimps in
near shore waters (3-8 depth).
 Trammel nets along Vizhinjam - Manakudy region;
bottom set gill nets and disco nets along east coast are the
other gears operated in coastal waters to exploit penaeid
shrimps. Stake nets are used to exploit juvenile shrimps
along both the east and west coasts.
Mode of exploitation

6.  Non-penaeid shrimps belong to the families Hippolytidae,
Palaemmidae, & Pandilidae, containing about 6% of the total
marine fish production.
 The non-penaeid shrimp fisthery is mainly supported by
Acetes indicus, A. johni, A. erythraeus, A. japonicus,
Nematopalaemon tenuipes (Spider prawn).
 Of these, A. indicus and A. johni support the commercially
important fisheries from marine waters; others are exploited on
a low key from estuarine and near shore coastal seas along both
northeast and northwest regions
 Acetes indicus is distributed in northern region of west coast
especially Mumbai and throughout east coast in inshore and
brackish waters. Exhippolysmata ensirostris is in inshore
waters of Gujarat and Maharastra and Godavari estuary in
Andhra Pradesh.

7.  The estimated average catch of non-penaeid shrimps were 1.14
1akh tonnes.
 They contributed 5.8% of total marine fish production during the
same period.
 Among the maritime states, Gujarat contributed maximum
(57.5%) followed by Maharashtra (33.1%), West Bengal (3.9%),
Andhra Pradesh 2.6%) and Kerala (1.8%).
 The resource is characteristic of the northwest coast, which
accounts for almost 90% of the total non-penaeid shrimp
production in the country.
 In Maharashtra and Gujarat, the non-penaeids account for 10.8%
and 12.6% of the total marine fish landings in these states. Deep
sea non-penaeid shrimps are being harvested along Tamilnadu
and Kerala by the deep sea shrimp trawlers.
Production trend

8. Non-penaeid shrimps are the bycatches of dol nets and
trawlers along Maharashtra and Gujarat coast.
Hence, further exploitation of the resource is not advisable
along these coasts.
Though they are of low commercial value, they find
prominent place in the marine food chain of important food
fishes of the region.
Therefore, large-scale exploitation of the resources of non-
penaeid shrimps will not be economically feasible.
Management

9. Crabs belong to the suborder Brachyura under the order
Decapoda and class Crustacea.
 Some of the species of marine crabs are in great demand
both in the domestic market and the export market.
The crabs are distributed all along the coast down to a depth
of five to seven fathoms and within a distance of a mile from
the coast.

10.  There are about 600 species of crabs in Indian waters. Of
these, 8 species belonging to the families Calippidae,
Portunidae and Grapsidae support localised fishery of some
importance in the marine and brackishwater regions.
 Portunidae includes the commercially important marine
species such as Portunus sanguinolentus, P. pelagicus,
Charybdis feriatus, C. annulata and C. natator.
 The country has a good fishery for marine crabs. Three
species namely C. feriatus (Cross crab) P. sanguinolentus
(Spotted crab) and P. pelagicus (Reticulate crab)
predominate the fishery of edible crabs in the Indian
coastal waters.
Species composition

11.  The fishery showed an overall improvement (40%) from nearly
20,000 t in 1975 to 28,000 t.
 Crabs formed about 8% of the total crustacean landings.
 The catches were comparatively good in the southern states,
Tamil Nadu contributing to 28%, Kerala 12% and Andhra Pradesh
6% during 1996-2000.
 Nearly 33% of landing was from Tamil Nadu, 31 % from Gujarat,
17% from Kerala and 8% from Andhra Pradesh.
 Maximum landing was from the southeast region (54%) followed
by the southwest (22%), northwest (18%) and northeast (5%)
regions. However, during the year 2000, the northwest
contributed the maximum (45%) followed by southeast region
(34%) and southwest region (17%).
 Maximum landing of crabs was from Gujarat (43%)
Production trend

12.  The gear used for crab fishing varies much.
 The seine nets, dip nets, cast nets, lines, hooked iron
rods, crab net, gill net and traps are used for crab fishing.
 However, crabs are landed mainly as a by-catch of
trawlers, mostly caught from a depth of about 10-60 m.
 In Tamil Nadu, which accounts for 28% of the total crab
landing, the mechanised trawlers lands about 60%, non-
mechanised bottom-set gill nets 20% and the out-board
engine bottom-set gill nets about 10% of the catches.
Mode of exploitation

13. The lobster fishery of India is mainly contributed by spiny
lobsters or rock lobsters (Palinuridae) and the slipper of
shovel-nosed lobster (Sycllaridae).
 They are highly priced seafood items and currently fetch the
highest unit value among commercially exploited marine
resources.
Heavy demand and attractive price for lobsters in the
international market have resulted in increased exploitation of
lobsters in recent years.
P. polyphagus is normally found in muddy substrates and
sometimes on rocky bottoms whereas P. homarus and P.
ornatus inhabit rocky and reef areas. Berried females of P.
homarus are normally observed in inshore areas

14.  Lobster fauna in India are represented by 20 species that include
14 species of littoral and 6 species of deep sea lobsters.
 However, only four species of littoral such as Panulirus
polyphagus, P. homarus, P. ornatus and P. versicolor and one
species of deep sea lobster.
 In the northwest coast, lobster fishery is mainly supported by the
spiny lobster, Panulirus polyphagus (Mud spiny lobster) and the
slipper lobster.
 The shallow water P. homarus (scalloped spiny lobster) occupying
1-10m depth range is the most dominant species along the
southwest coast. In these regions, they are caught along with deep
sea prawns by trawlers. A spiny lobster species, Linupurus
somniosus has been reported from the Andaman Sea. Similarly, a
new species of seyllarid, Scyllarus tutiensis was reported from
Gulf of Mannar region.
Species composition

15.  Bulk of the landings comes from the northwest, southwest
and the southeast coasts.
 The northwest coast comprising Gujarat and Maharastra
contributed to 69% of total landings.
 Gujarat contributed 43.7%, Maharashtra 25.4%, Tamil Nadu
14.6% and Kerala 13%.
 Though they form only 0.12% of total marine landings,
 They are an important export commodity comprising 1.07%
in quantity and 2.59 % in value.
Production trend

16. There are 5070 species of mollusca recorded in India. Of
which, 3370 species are from marine habitats.
 In India, certain areas are having rich molluscan diversity.
Andaman and Nicobar inlands have a very rich molluscans
diversity, which includes over 1000 species from the marine
region.
Gulf of Mannar and Lakshadweep have 428 and 424 species
respectively.
 Among molluscans, the gastropods are by far the most
successful class of all the molluscs with atleast 60,000 living
species.
The marine gastropod resources in India comprise a variety
of species and are exploited regularly for various purposes.
Gastropods are mostly distributed in the shallow waters,
lagoons and reef areas of the coastal sea.

17.  Gastropods are mainly reported from Gujarat, Gulf of Mannar,
and Coramandal coast along the east coast, Lakshadweep and
Andaman Islands.
 The most important among them and highly priced is the sacred
chank. Presently, they are exploited from both the east and west
coasts of India and the fishing by trawl net is the most popular.
The bottom trawl exploits not only the shrimps and fishes but also
the benthic animals like gastropods. Other important shells of
commercial value are Button shell (Umbonium spp.), Winged shell
(Strombidae), Spider shell or Scorpion shel1 (Lambis spp.), Cowry
(Cypraeidae), Helmet shell (Cassididae), Hairy triton (Cymatidae),
Frog shell (Bursidae), Murex shell (Muricidae), Rock snail
(Thaididae), Whelk (Nassaridae) etc.,
Common Gastropods in India

18. Bivalves belong to the phylum Mollusca.
 They include clams, mussels, edible oysters, pearl oysters
and window pane oysters.
 Mostly, bivalves are collected for their meat and shell.
Pearl fishing took place for the golden coloured pearls.
 When the pearl oyster beds became barren, pearl fishing
became uneconomic and it did not take place since then.
Meanwhile edible bivalves and ornamental shells gained
popularity and their fishery improved.
The average quantity of edible bivalve products exported per
annum have been estimated as 580 tonnes, worth Rs.26
million and 567 t of oyster shell powder valued at Rs.1.5
million. The bivalve resources are mostly underexploitated
along the northwest and northeast coasts whereas
overexploited along the southeast and southwest coasts.

19. Cephalopods that include squids, cuttlefishes and octopuses
belong to the phylum Mollusca.
 At present, there are about 700 described species of living
cephalopods worldwide. In India, the species diversity of
cephalopods is very poor.
As far as squids are concerned, the order Sepioidea is
represented only by three families namely, Sepidae (True
cuttle fishes), Sepiadaridae (Bottle tail squid) and Sepiolidae
(Bobtail squid).
The family Loliginidae is represented by four genera namely,
Loligo, Doryteruthis, sepioteuthis and Loliolus..
In the case of Octopus, an intresting group of Octopods
namely Cirrate, Octopods are completely absent in Indian
waters. Cephalopods are commercially exploited all along the
Indian coast. The catches of cuttlefish and squid are almost
equal along the Indian coast.