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"Technology Assessment and Refinement through the Institution Village Linkage Programme (IVLP) is the latest participatory extension model successfully undertaken by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research in India. The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute has been implementing IVLP since 2001 to assess and refine the technologies of the coastal agro ecosystems at Elamkunnapuzha village (Vypeen Island) in the Ernakulam District of Kerala. A series of need based location specific technology intervention plans have been introduced to overcome the social and biological constraints on farming practices in fisheries, livestock and agriculture, and implemented with the active participation of the stakeholders. The inferences drawn from IVLP ultimately form a package suitable for enhanced production in the costal agro ecosystem for replication to other areas with similar characteristics. This paper gives a brief account of the treatment packages applied in fisheries through various technological interventions and discusses the consequent yield and benefits obtained. The integrated whole village development through the involvement of multi institutional teams and a participatory approach was accorded prime importance in the IVLP of Elamkunnapuzha, with a greater emphasis on marginal and small farmers and specifically focusing on women for poverty alleviation and equity under the coastal agro ecosystem."

The study has assessed the levels of literacy, health, income and livelihood security of the fisherfolk in India by taking a sample of 4555 fisher households selected from six fisheries sectors (marine capture, inland capture, mariculture, fresh water and brackish water aquaculture and marketing and processing) in 19 states of India. The primary data were collected using a pre-tested survey scheduled during January to December, 2011. The age profile of the fisher household revealed the dominance of the young — onethird with less than 35 years of age and more than half in 35 to 55 years age groups. The literacy rate has been found quite high, about 80 per cent on overall basis. The health status of fisher households has been assessed using birth weight of infants, incidence of mortality among mothers/children during birth, administration of vaccines and health care facilities. It has been found that for a better livelihood security, the respondent households have diversified their income sources beyond fisheries, the major ones being labour, agriculture, and business and non-farm activities. The average monthly income across all sectors was about ` 6500, in which about 73 per cent were from fisheries. For economic security, a considerable number (around 40%) of fisher households had savings, the average amount being ` 4200 per fisher household. The study has suggested that microfinance enterprises like self-help groups (SHGs) should be promoted to help the fishers to address their problem of indebtedness. There exists huge potential of imparting training to fishers, particularly the young and womenfolk, on fisheries management and diversified enterprises including services delivery.

The domestic fish marketing system in India deserves to be developed into a strong network of efficiently functioning markets, as more than three-fourths of the country’s total fish production is channellised domestically. With the unleashing of a new global economic order, the efficiency of markets needs to be dealt with utmost importance. The degree of spatial market integration and price transmission between the major coastal markets in India have been reported using monthly retail price data on important marine fish species. It has been observed that degree of integration and rate of price transmission differ according to species. The highest integration has been observed in mackerel, probably because of its affordability to all income classes, resulting in a wide consumer base. Among various markets, a near full transmission of prices has been observed between Kerala and Tamil Nadu markets, except in the case of shrimp. Even though a major landing centre, the price movement in Maharashtra market has been found independent of other markets. The spatial market integration between major shrimp markets in the country has appeared to be the least, possibly because of its greater market share outside the country. The study has suggested to devise strategies to bring about greater integration between these markets so that both fishermen and the fish-consuming community in the country are benefitted.

"The community tanks and ponds in India are seldom used for fish culture. Fish culture as a community based activity has been shown to be economically viable in some parts of the country. This paper describes the success story of fish farming in a community tank in Assam."