CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH DESIGN

Transcription

1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH DESIGN 1.1. Introduction Fishing has been a traditional occupation of a large section of the people who are residing at the seacoast all over the world. Until the turn of the last century, not much attention was paid to exploit the wealth from the sea. Human race has been depending largely on land resources for their welfare and survival. The land resources are rapidly getting depleted and it is believed that within the coming years many raw materials that are at present obtained from land will be in short supply. 1 Therefore, attention has been drawn towards the ocean which covers 71 per cent of the earth. The sea is not only a storehouse of water but also contains enormous resources such as food, energy, minerals, petroleum etc. The sea as a biological environment is the source of food and other valuable products to the people. With increasing population and with the progress of human society, the dependence of man on sea for food has been increasing steadily. Fishery is concerned with economic exploitation of aquatic productivity. It means the capture and processing of (sea, coastal and inland) aquatic animals and plants as an occupation for profit. Fishery includes not only the business of 1 Qasim, S.Z., Diving Deep into Ocean, Yojana, 15 August, 1989, p.20.

2 catching fish in the ordinary sense but also taking of shell fish and other resources of the sea and inland waters. The important fishing grounds are found within a few hundred miles of the coast. They lie partly on the shore-belt of shallow water which covers the continental shelf or the submerged platform surrounding the continents. Others are located in the elevated parts of the sea floor at some distance from the shore. Almost all the important fishing areas are confined to the temperate zone which may be due to the warmth of the tropical water which favours the growth of innumerable kinds of fish. The tropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific and the Indian Ocean hold out great promise for fisheries. The fisheries sector in India has been recognized as a powerful generator of income and employment. India has emerged as the second harvester of Inland fish in the world with the inland fish production of 2.2 million tonnes and marine fish production of 2.7 million tonnes. India is the eight largest harvester of fish in the world. The annual average growth rate of the sector from to is 5.4 per cent. 2 But during 2007, the annual average growth rate is 3.24 per cent. India with a long coastline of 8,129 k.m., 2 million Sq. k.m. of exclusive economic zone, and 1.2 million hectares of brackish water bodies, offers vast potential for development of fisheries. As against the estimated fishery potential of 3.9 million tonnes the country has been able to tap 2.6 million tonnes. 3 2 Market Survey, Fish - A Source of Cheap and Nutritious Food, Facts for You, Vol.28, 1997, p Rama Prasad, M.V., Facts for You, Vol.23, 2003, p.23. 2

3 Fishes are caught from every stretch of water in India. The chief sources of supply are the coastal margins of the seas, river-estuaries, back-waters for marine and estuarine fish, rivers for irrigation and other animals, lakes, inundated tracts, etc., for fresh-water fish. 4 Before 1960, the markets for Indian marine products were largely shifted to neighboring countries like Srilanka, Myanmar and Singapore. This position continued as long-as dried items dominated exports from India. When the frozen and canned items increasingly figured in exports, the sophisticated affluent countries like U.S., France, Australia, Canada and Japan became important buyers. Japan is the top importer of marine products from India. 5 Fishing is the traditional occupation of a community of fishermen living along the seacoast. Fishing and allied activities constitute an industry and have created employment opportunities for more and more people having different skills in different fields of fisheries. It offers a wide scope to fulfill the objective of production-cum-employment envisaged in the development plans in India. It provides direct employment to millions of people and indirect employment through associate works like net making, boat making, boat repairing, fish processing, fish trade, fish transportation etc. In this context the fisheries sector is given high priority since it has the potential of employment generation. The 4 Gopalakumar, K., Fishery Technological Research and Extension the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Indian Farming, Vol.47, 1997, p Rama Prasad, M.V., Facts for You, Vol.18, 1998, p.16. 3

4 marine fish and its products have very good export potential for earning considerable amount of foreign exchange for the nation. 6 Fisheries sector occupies a very important place in the socio-economic development of the country. It has been recognized as a powerful income and employment generator as it stimulates growth of a number of subsidiary industries and is a source of cheap and nutritious food besides emerging as an important item of export trade. This sector is thus an important source of livelihood for a large section of economically backward population of the country, particularly in the coastal areas. 7 The state of Tamilnadu has a coastal length of 1076 k.m. which constitutes 15 per cent of India s coastal line. There are 591 fishing villages in 13 coastal districts of Tamilnadu starting from Tiruvallur district to Kanyakumari district. The fishermen living in these coastal fishing villages are 6.79 lakh, which includes 3.58 lakh fishermen and 3.40 lakh fisherwomen during The literacy rate is 66 per cent. About 2.70 lakh marine fishermen are actively engaged in fishing. The marine fishermen are taking out livelihood by fishing in the continental shelf of 41,412 Sq. Km. engaging 8,500 mechanized fishing crafts and 41,000 traditional crafts. About 3.70 lakh metric tonnes of fish are caught in Coramandal Coast, Palk Bay, Gulf of Mannar Coast throughout the year. 8 6 Selvaraj, P., Seafood Export Journal, 1989, pp Shah, K.C., Action Plan to Boost Exports of Indian Marine Products, Fishing Chimes, 38(23): 1991, pp

5 Statement of the Problem Fishing workers, particularly in the fishing communities are the most disadvantaged group. They have a very low status in the society. There are about 6.79 lakhs fishermen in Tamil Nadu. Of which 2.70 lakh are productively employed in fishing and its related activities. 9 Fishing workers are actively involved in the economic activities such as making and mending of nets, fish processing, dry fish preparation, marketing of fresh fish, dry fish and fish handling such as sorting, weighing, gutting, icing, etc. Their contribution to the development of small-scale fisheries is not recognised and compensated properly due to the social and cultural discrimination against them. They have acquired a secondary status in social life, economic activities and decision-making. A number of socio-economic constraints limit their work productivity and role in employment and income generating activities. They have the potential to play an active and sometimes dominant role in fishing related activities. In India, not much research work has been done in the field of fisheries economics. 10 The thrust of fisheries research in India so far has been centered around biological and technological aspects, mainly the exploitation of fishery resources. A social and economic aspect of marine fisheries research has been 9 Department of Fisheries, Tamil Nadu Marine Fisherfolk Census, Tamil Nadu, 2000, pp Selvaraj, P., Senthilathiban, R., Sundaraj, V., Perspectives of Research-Teaching and Extension in Fisheries Economics, Symposium of Tropical Marine Living Resources, Abstract, 1988,. 5

6 completely ignored. 11 Recently there have been some contributions through micro level studies which specifically relating to economics of fishing methods, impact of mechanization of craft and gear making, etc. Thoothukudi district is one of the important maritime districts of Tamil Nadu, the fishing workers are busily engaged in all the sea shore-based activities like sorting, weighing, salting, drying, marketing, etc. However, their economic activities go unnoticed. There is no scientific and extensive study on the economic activities of fishing workers. Hence, a research is required inevitably to weed out the exploitation of the weaker section with total illiteracy living along the coastal line. It will throw light on their real contribution for economic development. This will also pave the way for providing proper compensation for their activities through suitable policy measures. The present research aims at studying the Labour Conditions of Marine Fishing Workers in Thoothukudi District Scope of the Study In the present research, the investigator tries to study the labour conditions of marine fishing workers in Thoothukudi district. The study is confined to the socio-economic status of fishing workers. It is based on their role estimated using the data collected during The sphere of this research work is also 11 Subba Rao, N., Economics of Fisheries (A Case Study of Andhra Pradesh), Delhi: Daya Publishing House, 1986, pp

7 extended to the analysis of economic appraisal of fishing workers. This research also attempts to build models for estimating the income, expenditure and savings of fishing workers and also their historical background. Finally, the study also tries to offer constructive suggestions for evolving a firm and suitable policy for improving the conditions of fishing workers in India Objectives of the Study The following are the important objectives of the present research study: 1. to asses the importance of marine fisheries in Tamil Nadu and to prepare the profile of marine fisheries in Thoothukudi district specifically; 2. to determine the extent to which socio-demographic conditions that have an impact to promote the living status of fishing workers; 3. to analyse the per capita income and demographic functionaries of the marine fishing workers; 4. to bring out the different sources of income and the pattern of expenditure of fishing; 5. to elucidate the pattern of expenditure and to construct consumption function of the marine fishing workers; and 6. to find out the problem of fishing workers and to offer suitable policy suggestions to strengthen the labour conditions of marine fishing workers. 7

8 Hypotheses of the Study The following hypotheses have been framed based on the objectives of this study which are subjected to testing: 1. There is no income variation among different categories of fishing workers. 2. Per capita income of the fishing workers could be improved by incurring the number of earners in the family, level of employment and productive assets. 3. There is no significant difference in the literacy status of heads of sample fishing workers and their per capita income. 4. The earning members of the sample fishing workers have shown a negative influence over the level of per capita income. 5. There is no significant relationship between consumption expenditure of fishing workers and savings in the study area. 6. There is no significant association between the income of the marine fishing workers and source of borrowing. 8

9 1.2. RESEARCH DESIGN Methodology Specific objectives and hypotheses of the study as stated earlier require the use of both primary and secondary data to verify the suitability of objectives and to test the hypothesis of the study with reality. Methods used for the collection and analysis of data are described with the help of statistical tools. Statistical tools of analysis and empirical models are presented in the present study a. Period of Study This study covers the gross section data pertaining to a period of one year from April 2009 to March b. Area of the Study Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu has been taken as the area of study. The scientific procedure of this microscopic study is so designed to bring out the maximum result with minimum permissible outlay of time and labour. Therefore, the researcher has selected the following 12 villages out of the 21 coastal villages in the districts of Thoothukudi viz. Vembar, Keezhavaippar, Tharuvaikulam, Thoothukudi North, Thoothukudi South, Punnaikayal, Singhithurai, Veerapandianpatnam, Amalinagar, Alanthalai, Manapad and Periyathalai. The present study area is purposely selected for two reasons. First, these villages have a large number of fishing population, fishing workers and fishing crafts with 9

10 fishing as the major occupation. The second reason is that the researcher is familiar with this area and is able to get the co-operation of the officials and also fishing workers which helped him to select 600 respondents from among 14,765 active fishing workers in the study area c. Pilot Study The researcher had attempted several visits to Vembar, Keezhavaippar, Tharuvaikulam, Thoothukudi North, Thoothukudi South, Punnaikayal, Singhithurai, Veerapandianpatnam, Amalinagar, Alanthalai, Manapad and Periyathalai coastal villages of Thoothukudi district before the inception of the present research study. A pilot study was conducted to check whether the interview schedule contained all necessary information. The results of the pilot study highlighted that the fishing workers were broadly divided into vallam craft fishing workers, mechanized boat fishing workers and fibre boat fishing workers and thus the samples were further classified as above. The homogeneity of the vallam craft fishing workers, mechanized boat fishing workers and fibre boat fishing workers mark significant differences in gross income among villages and hence the samples of these villages were pooled for the purpose of analysis. 10

11 1.2.1.d. Sampling Design The present research has considered Thoothukudi district as the study area since it has the lengthiest coast of Tamil Nadu and is also strategically located in Gulf of Mannar. In addition, fishery is the major source of employment in the costal economy and it also consists of different types of activities in fisheries ranging from production, marketing of fishes and dried fishes, fish processing, exporting etc. In all these, labour conditions of marine fishing workers play an important role. Marine fishermen population in the coastal villages in each zone of the district and active fishermen in the coastal villages form the universe. On the basis of the zone in the coastal line, out of the 21 marine fishermen villages, 12 villages have been selected for the present study. The selected marine fishermen villages are Vembar, Keezhavaippar, Tharuvaikulam, Thoothukudi North, Thoothukudi South, Punnaikayal, Singhithurai, Veerapandianpatnam, Amalinagar, Alanthalai, Manapad and Periyathalai. These fishermen population of these 12 fishing villages constitute per cent of the total marine fisherfolk population of the district of Thoothukudi. A major share of crafts like vallam, mechanized and fibre boats are operated in these villages apart from the traditional non-mechanised craft. The traditional non-mechanised craft like catamaran, catamaran with outboard engine, hand fulling wooden vallam are not given much importance in these fishing villages after 2004 tsunami. In the present research study the major crafts like vallam craft (wooden and plywood) mechanized boat and fibre boat have selected. 11

12 The motorised vallam craft mentioned in the present study is called as vallam craft. As far as the present study is concerned, the investigator proposed to collect the data required by adopting stratified percentage sampling technique. The total respondents are belonging to vallam craft fishing workers, mechanized boat fishing workers and fiber boat fishing workers. The total active fishing workers are 14, in 12 selected villages. Since it is very difficult and time consuming to cover the entire fishing workers in the present study, the researcher proposed to use sampling techniques. A sample of 4.06 per cent of the fishing workers were selected randomly from each village in the present study. Hence, a total of 600 sample respondents were selected. Among them 200 respondents were vallam craft fishing workers, 200 were mechanized boat fishing workers and remaining 200 were fibre boat fishing workers. It is shown in the Table 1.1. The data collected from these sample respondents were carefully processed, edited and tabulated for analytical purposes. 12 District Hand Book, Thoothukudi District, , p

13 Sample Villages Table: Sampling Design of the Study Total Active Fishing Workers Sample Fishing Workers Vallam Craft Fishing Workers Mechanised Boat Fishing Workers Fibre Boat Fishing Workers Alanthalai Amalinagar Keezhavaippar Manapad 1, Periathalai 1, Punnaikayal 1, Singhithurai Tharuvaikulam 1, Thoothukudi North 4, Thoothukudi South 1, Veerapandianpatnam Vembar Total 14, Source: 1. Assistant Director of Fisheries Office, Thoothukudi, Field Survey e. Sources of Data This study is based on both primary and secondary data. Analyzing the labour conditions of marine fishing workers in the study area, primary data have been used. An interview schedule was used to collect primary data required for the study, while selecting the fishing workers for collecting primary data, stratified percentage random sampling technique was used. The requires secondary data 13

14 have been used for analyzing the growth of fish production and employment potential of fisheries in India, Tamil Nadu and Thoothukudi district from various published and unpublished literature f. Collection of Data This study is based on both primary and secondary data. Population figures were taken from the Census Report. General particulars about the district and villages were collected from the District Statistical Office, District Collector Office, Department of Fisheries and Village Administrative Offices. The other required secondary data were made available from various journals, periodicals, books and websites. The required primary data were collected from the selected households with the help of a comprehensive pre-tested interview schedule through personal interview method. The data were collected over a period of one financial year commencing from 1 st April 2009 to 31 st March Data were collected personally by the investigator from the respondents who have not maintaining any records. Therefore, care was taken at every stage of study to minimize the bias by suitable crosschecks g. Tools for Analysis The research tries to identify the most important economic determinants of the various economic and social elements of the fishing workers. The study has 14

15 adopted Chi-Square test, ANOVA, F-test, regression and other descriptive statistics. Lorenz curve and Gini ratio are used to measure the income inequality. Various trend models are also adopted to forecast fish production and export of various fishery products. In this an overview of the statistical techniques are also presented. Chi Square test The Chi Square statistics is a non-parametric test adopted here to test the magnitude of the discrepancy between theoretically expected values and the observed values. The statistics for the test of independence summarizes how close the expected frequencies fall to the observed frequencies. χ 2 is useful to establish and measure the existence of the association between any two attributes. This χ 2 takes only positive values and is given by the formula, χ 2 = (O ij E ij ) 2 i-j where E ij O ij Observed value in the (ij) th cell E ij - Expected value in the (ij) th cell On the assumption of independence of attributes where, (A i ) (B j ) E ij = N 15

16 A i - Total of i th row B j Total of j th column N Total number of observation If χ 2 calc < Calc < χ2 5% for (r-1) (c-1) degrees of freedom, then it is accepted that the two attributes A and B are independent or there is insignificant association between them at 5 per cent level. But if χ 2 calc > χ 2 5% then it is accepted that, there is significant association between them at 5 per cent. This tool is used to study the significance of association between influencing factors and level of age, education, occupation and income. Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) The average annual growth rate shows the average percentage change of the base year to current year. The formula used for this computation is: 1 Y t Y t-1 AAGR = -----Σ X 100 n Y t -1 Where Y t and Y t-1 are values for current year and base year respectively and n is the number of years of the time series Acharya Madnani, Applied Econometrics for Agricultural Economics, (Vdaipur: Himalaya Publication, 1988), p

17 Analysis of Variance The method of comparing mean values of the various group is called the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). It compares the variability of the sample mean value about the overall mean to the variability of the sample observations about their separate means. The test is the ratio of two estimates of the population variance, σ 2, of the measurements in the group. One of the two estimates uses the variability between within each sample. This estimate is called with-in group estimate of variance or simply within estimate. If H 0 is true, the between estimate tends to be equal to within estimate, apart from sampling error. Within Sum of Squares (WSS) and Between Sum of Squares (BSS) and the respective estimate of variances are given below. _ WSS = Σ(Y ij - Y j ) 2 _ BSS = Σ(Y j - Y ) 2 2 Σ (n j -1) s 2 j σ w = N-g _ 2 Σ n j (Y j Y ) 2 σ B = g - 1 Where, Y ij = are the individual values of the sample Y j = mean of the j th sample _ Y = mean of the items by pooling all the samples i = 1 to n j ; j = 1 to g ; Σ n j = N 17

18 (N-g) = within group degrees of freedom (g-1) = between group degrees of freedom g = total number of samples F Statistics estimate i.e., The F-statistics for H 0 is the ratio of the between estimate to the within Between Estimate BSS / (g - 1) F = = Within Estimate WSS / (N - g) A significant F value provides strong evidence against H o and an insignificant F value provides no evidence against H 0 at a designated level of significance. Regression Analysis In the analysis of estimation of various elements of the income and expenditure of fishermen, regression analysis is employed. Regression analysis is concerned with the study of the dependence of one variable the dependent variable, on one or more other variables, the explanatory variables with a view to estimate and predict the mean population or average value of the former in terms of the known or fixed values of the latter. A regression containing one independent variable is known as a simple linear regression whereas a regression with more than one explanatory variable is termed as a multiple regression. Simple Linear Regression: 18

19 Y t = β 0 + β 1 X t + u t Multiple Linear Regression: Y t = β 0 + β 1 X 1 t + β 2 X 2 t + u t is the simplest multiple linear regression with two explanatory variables. In the above models, Y is the dependent variable X 1, X 11, X 21 are independent variables. β 0, β 1, β 2, are the regression co-efficients. U t is the error variable Here, U t is assumed to follow a normal distribution with zero mean [E(U t ) = 2 0] and constant variance [E(U t = σ 2 ] is popularly known as the assumption of homogeneity. The other important assumptions are U t is independent of the explanatory variables. The independent variables are uncorrelated to one another (assumption of multicollinearity) and the error values are uncorrelated with their previous lagged values (assumption of autocorrelation). Lorenz Curve Approach The measure of the degree of inequality in the distribution of income of fishermen is carried out by using Lorenz curve. Lorenz curve is given as a box diagram and the 45 0 line represents the line of equal distribution. Actual distribution is represented by their cumulative frequency curve. If the cumulative 19

20 curve is far from the line of equality, then the inequality is higher for the distribution. Gini ratio co-efficient is estimated with the help of the Lorenz curve. Gini ratio is the ratio of the area between the observed cumulative frequency curve and the line of equality and the 45 0 line. The Gini ratio-nearing zero indicates less inequality and the ratio approaching unity implies greater inequality. Trend Analysis Trend models that are otherwise.called deterministic models often catch the variations observed in business and economic variables. Most frequently used trend models are linear, logarithmic, quadratic, and exponential. The trend models applied in this study are given below. Linear Trend Model - Y = a + b T + u Logarithmic Trend Model - log Y = a+b log T+u Quadratic Trend Model - Y = a + b T +c T 2 + u Exponential Trend Model - Y = a + b e ct + u Where, T = Time variable a, b, c = co efficients of the regression model to be estimated u = value of error variable 20

21 Importance of the Study This study leads to the proper recognition of the labour conditions of marine fishing workers and to the formulation of new policies for the remuneration of their work. This may go a long way to eradicate discrimination and gender inequality in general and empowerment of rural fishing workers in particular. This study will also help the boat owners in the study area and to take necessary steps to rectify the defects and also to adopt precautionary measures to have a cordial relation with the fishing workers in future The findings of this work would be of immense help to planners, policy makers and institutions who are concerned with fisheries development, particularly with ways and means of improving the socio-economic life of fishing workers Limitations of the Study This study covers the labour conditions of marine fishing workers and does not include cost of production, internal and external marketing aspects. The secondary data collected were restricted to the length of time. Most of the fishermen households are illiterates and poorly educated and did not have the practice of maintaining any records for their daily gross income, net income, operating expenses for fishing, disposable income and consumption expenditure. The heads of the households could furnish the information for the questions from their memory and hence the information furnished by them was subject to the 21

22 recall bias. However, the reliability of the data were ensured by repeated questioning in different ways and by cross-checking with similar information provided by other well-informed fishermen in the study area. Moreover, the present study is basically carried out at the micro level and limited to a sample size of 600 fishermen households in 12 coastal villages and hence, the findings of the study can not be generalized at the macro level. With all these limitations the generalization of the inferences of this study has been done with maximum care. Therefore, the conclusion of this study is indicative rather than imperative Organization of the Thesis The study has been structured into the following chapters; Chapter I - Introduction It deals with the introduction, importance of the marine fisheries, the research problem, scope, objectives, hypotheses, importance, limitations and frame work of the study. Chapter II - Review of Related Literature and Relevant Concepts This chapter indicates a precise review of the previous related studies and various concepts used in the fishery occupation. 22

23 Chapter III Historical background and profile of Thoothukudi Fisheries This chapter presents an account of the historical background and profile of Thoothukudi fisheries and fishermen. Chapter IV - Socio Demographic Characteristics of Sample Fishing Workers In this chapter, an attempt has been made to deal with socio-demographic characteristics of fishing workers in the study area. Chapter V - Economic Appraisal of Sample Fishing Workers This chapter elucidates the economic appraisal of fishing workers, estimates their role in the marine fisheries and brings out their expenditure, income, savings and indebtedness. Chapter VI Summary of Findings and Suggestions A summary of work done and salient findings of the study are presented. Suggestions and conclusion are drawn after analyzing the objectives and hypotheses of the study. 23