Fishermen of over a dozen coastal villages in Raigad district of the Indian State of Maharashtra have been catching 50 per cent more in their nets ever since they began to use mobile sets that provide satellite data and maps on prospective fishing zones.
The fishermen of these villages receive real-time maps and data about prospective fish schools, storms, wind direction and velocity directly on these sets.
The sets were distributed under a pilot project being run by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Hyderabad, and Tata Consultancy Service in Mumbai. We are using satellites to get precise data and maps about prospective fish zones, wind direction and wind velocity and weather conditions, which help the fishermen a lot, said Veerendra Veer Singh, Principal Scientist at the Mumbai Research Centre of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi.
A total of 13 mobile sets have been distributed to the village societies to disseminate the most up-to-date information, Singh added .
Singh has headed the project since its inception and is currently in charge of the pilot project launched in 2010.
Currently, 5 per cent of the fishers in selected villages are using the technology, which in turn leads to a saving of 5 lakh litres of diesel per year, costing around Rs 250 lakh every year, he said.
At present, 1,296 motorised and mechanised boats are operating in the 13 coastal villages covered by the project, consuming approximately 200 lakh litres of diesel per year, the CMFRI scientist said.
The movement of fishes is based on temperature, food resources, water current, wind direction and wind velocity, he said.
Fishermen have reported a 40-50 per cent increase in their catch, coupled with a reduction in the time they spend at sea and expenses, the CMFRI scientist said.
The Hindu Business Line