The Community Based Fish Catch Monitoring (CBFCM) System, a novel initiative by the College of Fisheries, Mangalore will help fishermen monitor their work quantitatively and qualitatively so that they are in a position to improve their working conditions and earnings.
The college in association with a Bangalore-based NGO, Dakshin Foundation, will train fishermen in coastal Karnataka under the new system.
Through the co-management monitoring system, fishermen will be able to keep a record of their day-to-day work. The college team has already trained 20 fishermen in Meenakaliya in Mangalore on a pilot basis. In the beginning the volunteers from the NGO and the college will train fishermen, who have traditional and mechanised boats, to maintain log books.
Information including quantity of fish catch, variety of fish, number of men worked, total expenses towards diesel and wage, and price they got for the catch will be recorded in the book regularly. Ramachandra Bhatta, professor of fisheries economics of the college STOI that the exercise was aimed at helping fishermen have a clear picture of their work.
“Usually most fishermen do not keep a record of their daily routine, and hence, they are not in a position to analyze their work quantitatively and qualitatively. The CBFCM will solve this issue,” he said.
“One more advantage is that the move will help fisheries department and other government agencies to conduct surveys on fishing conditions in the coastal Karnataka districts. The programme will be extended to other large and small fishing villages in Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts soon,” Ramachandra added.
Times of India, 2011