India Palk Bay blue swimming crab - gillnet

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Overview

The FIP is targetting blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus) from the Palk Bay region of the Tamil Nadu coast in India.

The fishing gear is gill net (nandu valai). Each “nandu valai” is about 1000 m long with 40-50 joints and 80-100cm in height and weighs about 55 Kg. The netting is made of high-density nylon mono-filament with a stretched mesh of 90-110 mm. The head rope is nylon with a 1.5 cm in thickness and small floats are attached at intervals of about one and a half feet or marked by a flag and the footrope is with small sinkers. Each weighs about 20g and in one complete stretch of the net, a total of 350 numbers of sinkers are there weighing about 7kg in total weight (BSC FMP). The crew on each fishing boat deploying gillnets at sea, tie several nets (also called gillnet joints) end to end forming a long chain so that they cover a considerable area at sea (e.g. Devipattinam - 12 nets x 70 meters used in OBBSGN). 

The crafts involved in the fishery are classified as Outboard bottom set gillnets (OBBSGN), Nonmechanised bottom set gillnets (NMBSGN), Inboard bottom set gillnets (IBBSGN) and Outboard gillnets (OBGN) (Srinath et al., 2005). The crafts employed for gillnet operation include catamarans, plank-built boats, dugout canoes, and fiberglass coated plywood boats. Motorization of the gillnet crafts, by fitting inboard or outboard engines is also reported, and in recent years’ fiberglass boats with an overall length range of 6-10 m are more commonly used for deploying fishing gears. 

The Blue Swimming Crab (BSC) gillnet fishers in Palk Bay operate under an open-access regime that is based on a top-down management approach with several applicable laws at Federal, State & District levels. Gillnets locally called “Nandu valai” primarily target Portunus pelagicus which comprises more than 98% of the crab landings (CMFRI 2018) with the remaining 2% comprised of Portunus sanguinolentus and Charybdis natator species. BSC fishery in Palk Bay is managed by Tamil Nadu State Fisheries Department (DoF) which issues licenses for fishing boats and applies several management measures (3 days: 4 days Rule for mechanized boats, a token system for trawlers, etc.) to mitigate conflicts between various actors (fishing boats and trawlers). A good account of the management history, fishing practices, historical fishing levels, and other resource attributes in Palk Bay is provided in Stephen et al, (2013); Salagrama (2014); and CMFRI (2018) reports.  
 

FIP Description 

The FIP is targetting blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus) from the Palk Bay region of the Tamil Nadu coast in India.

FIP Objective(s) 

Achieve MSC certification by 2025.

FIP Type 
Comprehensive
FIP Stage 
Stage 4: Improvements in Fishing Practices or Fishery Management
Start and Projected End Dates
October 2019
April 2025
Last Progress Report Reviewed 
Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Next Progress Report Due 
Thursday, May 30, 2024
Next Independent Evaluation 
Sunday, November 30, 2025
Species 
Common Name 
Blue Swimming Crab
Scientific Name
Portunus pelagicus
Gear Type 
Bottom Gillnet
Location
FAO Major Fishing Area
Area 57 (Indian Ocean, Eastern)
Exclusive Economic Zones
Country 
India
Geographic Scope 
Palk Bay, Tamil Nadu
Landings
Estimated Total FIP Landings 
4,500 metric tons
Estimated Total Fishery Landings 
6,100 metric tons
Landings Date 
December 2022
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FIP at a Glance

View current status
October 01, 2019
39% 32% 29%
Progress Rating (A) Advanced Progress

Reserved for comprehensive FIPs that have achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within the past 12 months.

(B) Good Progress

A basic FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within 12 months.

(C) Some Recent Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months that has never achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result but has reported a Stage 3 activity within the first 12 months.
(D) Some Past Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months BUT has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old AND a Stage 3 activity has been reported within six months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
(E) Negligible Progress
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old, with no Stage 3 activity reported in the last six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months with no Stage 3 activity reported within 12 months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.

The ratings are currently derived by SFP from publicly available data on FIP websites, including FisheryProgress.org, and are determined using the following methodology: View PDF

A Advanced Progress
Actions Complete

This pie chart represents completed environmental actions. Non-completed environmental actions may contain completed sub-tasks that are not illustrated here. For more information on environmental action progress visit the Actions Progress tab.

  • Complete
  • Incomplete
Next Update Due FisheryProgress requires a FIP to provide update reports every six months, and two missed reports will render the FIP inactive. If a report is overdue, this date will appear red.
May 2024
Target End Date
Apr 2025

FIP Leads

Organization Name 
Crab Meat Processors Association
Organization Type 
Industry
Primary Contact 
R Mayilvahanan
Phone 
04612340113, 9842166204
FIP Identification Number The FIP Identification Number is automatically generated by FisheryProgress when a FIP profile is created. While the number itself is not meaningful, they are used by NGOs, academia, and industry to refer to FIPs in a consistent way.
11863