Development of Marine Fisheries Science in India

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MARINE FISHERIES

INFORMATION SERVICE

T"*" August, S e p t e m b e r 1999

T T ^ TECHNICAL AND 4<rTi EXTENSION SERIES

% ^ ^ t ^ T T T T ^ T T r f o R T ^ CENTRAL MARINE FISHERIES a r ^ ^ T F T TTF^rFT RESEARCH INSTITUTE

cblfTr^H, ^TRcT CO( HIN, INDIA

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9 1 4 BOOK REVIEW Title

Author Publisher Price ISBN

Year of publication Number of pages Size

Binding

D e v e l o p m e n t of Marine Fisheries S c i e n c e in India Pathrose Bensam

Daya Publishing House, Delhi-110 035 R s 6 4 0

81-7035-207-X 1999

339 + illustration and BW photographs 160 X 250 m m

Calico h a r d b o u n d . Marine Fisheries science is a recent off- shoot of Biological Science with great scope for development a s fisheries is gaining importance in the food security of all maritime countries.

Although t h e subject is basically biological, it is m u l t i d i s c i p l i n a r y a n d i n c l u d e s m a n y b r a n c h e s of marine sciences which have some bearing to the marine living resources. For the progress of the exploration and exploitation of marine living wealth, it is Imperative to develop all essential harvest a n d post harvest infrastructure facilities along with a cadre of capable a n d well trained manpower r e s o u r c e s for research, operation a s well to manage the

wealth sustainably. Since the marine fishery science is multidisciplinary a n d complex, a proper rationale to prioritise a n appropriate c u r r i c u l u m m o s t s u i t a b l e to bring u p able m a n a g e r s and to empower and enlighten the future marine resources u s e r society is a na- tional requirement. A concise attempt to bring all s u c h subjects u n d e r the cover of a single d o c u m e n t / b o o k , though difficult, is necessary in t h e c o n t e x t of d e c r e a s i n g r e a d i n g t a s t e among the present day s t u d e n t / y o u t h . Moreo- ver most of the r e s e a r c h findings in this science still hide behind scientific journals, which are generally either inaccessible or all the re-

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suits might not be of direct relevance to the beginners of this science study.

The book u n d e r review "Development of Marine Fisheries Science in India" written by Dr. P. Bensam a n d p u b l i s h e d by Daya P u b - lishing House, Delhi s e e m s to be a n a t t e m p t to achieve the above goal. The a u t h o r h a s made all efforts to include a spedtrum of subjects in condensed a n d capsulated form in the book.

Since the a u t h o r is not a specialist in many subjects dealt with in the book, m i n o r / s m a l l errors have crept in at different places. This might have also h a p p e n e d while in the process of synthasising research r e s u l t s a n d con- densing the subject c o n t e n t s drawn from different sources. Through careful scrutiny a n d editing those shortcomings could have been eliminated.

This book h a s three p a r t s . The first p a r t presented through 100 page covers 2 8 sections (each in 2 to 5 pages) a s a general description on the world oceans a n d their characteristics, major c u r r e n t s ; Interrelationship of major or- ganisms; origin a n d exploitation, techniques of m a r i n e fishing a n d fishing a r e a s , major pelagic, demersal, c r u s t a c e a n a n d molluscan fisheries, marine algae, m a m m a l s and turtles;

cultivable resources; environment a n d fisheries; fishing port facility; fish spoilage, process- ing, preservation a n d by products; fish trade and commerce; fisheries development tools;

world fish production; fishing gear impacts;

pollution; s u s t a i n a b l e mariculture outlook for future. Although wide range of topics is covered in the above 28 sections, all of them are very brief and cursory, w h e r e a s some topics are jumbled and a few of them even s t a n d out of the main theme of this part. However, in the scarcity of s u c h Indian works of similar n a t u r e , this part would serve a s a general in- troduction to convey overall global fisheries knowledge to beginners a n d s t u d e n t s of fisheries education.

The second p a r t of the book describes the basic research methodology normally applied

in fisheries s t u d i e s a n d research, with 36-sec- t i o n s s p r e a d over 120 p a g e s , s u p p o r t e d by many illustrations. This p a r t deals with principles of species determination, methodology for d a t a collection a n d analysis for estimation of production, linear m e a s u r e m e n t s ; biological and population characteristics; linear re- lation of p a r a m e t e r s ; age determination methods, m a t u r a t i o n and fecundity; characteristics of early developmental stages; methods of estimation of early developmental stages, methods of estimation of phyto and, zooplankton, b e n t h o s ; principles a n d m e t h o d s of stock size;

m e s h selection; extension, economic and management m e t h o d s prevalent in marine fisheries, a n d laws for j u d i c i o u s exploitation. There are many errors in sections 2.25 to 2.30 de- scribing the fishery statistics, especially those dealing with mathematical formulae. As in the first p a r t here also some of t h e sections, for example 2.5 to 2.7 project out of the main theme mentioned in t h i s p a r t entitled "basic method of research." There are some overlap of topics a n d c o n t e n t s which could have ben avoided if the sections "collection of data on size of a resource" (2.9) a n d "estimation of na- tion fish production" (2.10) are combined. The section on collection of d a t a on biological pa- rameter (2.11) is superfluous a s the same is dealt with in s u b s e q u e n t sections. The esti- m a t i o n of s t o c k size (2.29) by s w e p t a r e a method described in page 204 h a s been already dealt u n d e r 'method of estimating the stand- ing stock by trawl experiments' in pages 126- 127. Similar duplications are discovered at different p a r t s in the book. Under the section 2.35 and 2.36 there is a grave omission with regard to c u r r e n t m a n a g e m e n t practices fol- lowed the world over, a s a n example, FAO's Code of conduct for responsible fishing. Inspite of s u c h inadequacies t h i s part p r e s e n t s basic fisheries research methodology culled out from various scattered sources in a highly abridged form for u s e to beginners in the study of fishery sciences.

The third part spread over 134 pages cov-

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ers 30 sections, mostly devoted to explain the history, research, evaluation and management of Indian marine c a p t u r e fishery resources, a brief mention a b o u t the seed production and farming etc. with the support of many black

& white photographs. This entire part seems to be scooped from the published and u n p u b - lished research r e s u l t s of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin (CMFRI).

The section on r e s o u r c e s available (3.2) is a brief s t a t u s of exploited Indian marine pelagic, demersal a n d midwater fishes, c r u s t a c e a n s , cephalopods, clams, m u s s e l s , oysters, algae, seafan, sea c u c u m b e r s , king crab, t u r t l e s , sponges, corals, mangroves and cultivable resources. In this section resources s u c h a s deep s e a / o c e a n i c mesopelagics, o r n a m e n t a l fishes/other marine curios etc., are not in- cluded though they are important future potential resources for exploitation a n d trade.

In the section history of marine fisheries development, research and education the author h a s very briefly mentioned the development activities a n d r e s e a r c h s u p p o r t which helped to transform the traditional fisheries of pre- independent era into a n industrial sector. The present set-up available for r e s e a r c h e s in resource biology, fisheries education, training, mariculture etc. also find a place in these sections. The research results of major resources like, pelagic a n d demersal finfishes, c r u s t a - cean and moUuscan c a p t u r e resources early life h i s t o r y of commercially i m p o r t a n t resources, fisheries environment, seed production and farming, physiology, genetics, n u t r i - tion and pathology of culturable resources, f i s h e r y e c o n o m i c s , d e e p a n d h i g h s e a s exploitation, endangered and threatened marine resources protection and conservation etc are mostly b a s e d on t h e recent research findings of the CMFRI. The contents of some sections in this p a r t either overlap or some- times duplicate as in the previous two p a r t s of this book. This could have been avoided by amalgamating some of the closely similar topics and by proper editing.

An overall review of the boo gives a n im- pression t h a t greater emphasis is paid to marine c a p t u r e fisheries and covered most of its allied topics, whereas the marine environment, mariculture a n d fisheries technology are not adequately represented, eventhough the research i n p u t s in t h e s e a r e a s have progressed considerably withip t h e courntry. The a u t h o r h a s given large volume of statistical data on fish catch, efforts, etc. without mentioning the source from where they were drawn except those provided in the tables. Similarly the photographs presented in the book seem to be borrowed from the publications of the CMFRI;

whereas the same is not acknowledged.

In writing this book, the a u t h o r h a s relied more on the r e s e a r c h e s / p u b l i c a t i o n s / r e p o r t s of CMFRI, while the contributions of marine Institutions, like NIO, GIFT, FSI, CIFNET. IFP, CIFE, fisheries colleges of maritime Agricul- tural universities, different schools of marine sciences in universities etc. have not been adequately utilised to cover the various topics dealt with in this book. An extensive review of a wide r a n g e of r e s e a r c h e s done in m a n y b r a n c h e s of fishery science at the above In- d i a n i n s t i t u t i o n s / u n i v e r s i t i e s would have added more content a n d strength to this book.

A critical evaluation of the book by subject specialist can easily pin point several lacunae in both subject a n d content. Some of the promi- n e n t and glaring omission and inadequate de- s c r i p t i o n n o t e d in t h i s book are on water m a s s e s , artificial reefs, marine protected ar- eas, mud b a n k s , biodiversity of major ecosys- tem for p l a n t s a n d animals of importance in m a r i n e t o x i c o l o g y a n d p h a r m a c o l o g y bioprospecting, sea ranching, ornamental marine organism, live f i s h / c r a b / lobster t r a n s - p o r t / t r a d e ; pollution; CRZ impacts on devel- o p m e n t / m a r i c u l t u r e ; m i c r o a l g a l c u l t u r e , zooplankton culture; DSL; indicator species;

deep/high seas fishing policy; responsible fishing etc. The inclusion of the above topics would have enriched t h e book a s well as made the title justifiable a n d more apt. Although the

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a u t h o r h a s t a k e n information from a large numbers of different Indian publications, the bibliography is limited to 51 citations In which only 20 are the works from India. Instead of giving s u c h a n i n a d e q u a t e bibliography, t h e author could have enlisted books for additional reading, which would serve to supplement and complement the contents presented In this book.

Despite the above observation, the author's efforts are worth appreciating, as there are only few Indian works similar n a t u r e . Compared to earlier works his a t t e m p t is unique wherein the author h a s carefully structured and aligned many often needed applied a s p e c t s relevant to marine fisheries r e s e a r c h a n d development, present s t a t u s , capability, lacunae, w e a k n e s s and strengths, future t h r u s t s a n d potential;

while leaving aside the more academic compo-

n e n t s of this science which were already re- flected and emphasised in different earlier In- dian books. In this context it is worth mentioning t h a t t h o u g h t h e academic institutions have prescribed curriculum for courses in fisheries science, t h e r e were no serious attempt from the p a r t of academicians to prepare any s t a n d a r d book or books to cater to the needs of their s t u d e n t s . In s u c h a situation, a sci- entist's (the a u t h o r of this book) endeavour to help the s t u d e n t s of t h i s science is commend- able. This book Is recommended to graduate s t u d e n t s of fishery science a n d to college/uni- versity libraries wherein fisheries / m a r i n e science courses are offered.

Dr. N.G. Menon, CMFRI, Cochin