Abstract

Objectives: Present study investigates the socio-economic status of three fisher communities in district Srinagar of Jammu and Kashmir around Dal Lake, Anchar Lake and River Jhelum.

Methods/Statistical analysis: A total number of 230 fishers is selected randomly from Anchar Lake, Dal Lake and River Jhelum within the limits of Srinagar city and subjected to in-depth guided interviews and well structured questionnaires. The data collected was subjected to descriptive statistics and chi square in SPSS (version 20.0) software.

Findings: The study revealed that most of the people involved in fishing belongs to age group of 41-50 years with a significant difference in literacy rate (p<0.05) in all the communities. In terms of monthly monetary gains, the overall poor economic conditions in all the three fisher communities was noticed with highest frequency distribution falling under 10,000 rupees a month. A meager return from the capture fisheries has enforced them to switch over to other professions of laboring, fruit vending and auto driving. The problems faced by fisher folks in capitalizing maximum from the capture fisheries include high cost of net (91.25%), poor extension services to educate the fishers (80%), poor processing facilities (77.5%), high cost of fishing inputs (71.25%) and poor weather condition (46.25%).

Applications: If the fishery facilities of these areas are improved upon, it could support the strides towards employment generation, and supply of animal protein in the region and beyond.

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