Artisanal octopus fishery: Socio-economics and management

Abstract

Artisanal fishing for octopus from reefs has been an important subsistence activity for the Lakshadweep people. As major part of the catch is for self-consumption and local sale, the true impact of the fishery remains undocumented. This study focuses on collecting baseline information regarding the techniques used, the primary fishing areas, hunting intensity, economic importance of resource and scientifically quantifying the fishery catch based on socio-economic data collected from interviews. Our study confirmed the presence of only one species of octopus (Octopus cyanea) in the lagoons of Kavaratti and Agatti as compared to previously described three. CPUE of 0.5 and 2.9 for Kavaratti and Agatti, respectively, indicates that octopus hunting is not intensive. An increase in the artisanal fishery annual yield from 22 in 1985 to 1102 tons/yr now is indicative of an increase in reef extraction over the years. With sun-dried meat sale to other islanders at the rate of 100-150 Rs/kg, the fishery has an annual economic value of approximately 110 million rupees (approx. 2,20,000 US $). Threats such as destruction of the habitat caused by breaking of corals during hunting are identified and management measures such as scientific collection and monitoring of fishery information, computation of size and catch limits, and establishment of Refuges and MPA's are suggested.