Prawn fisheries of India

Abstract

Prawns which are among the major marine fisheries have comprised 81,699 tonnes forming 10.5% in the total marine fish production of India estimated at an annual average of 777,733 tonnes in the ten year period of 1959 - 1968. About 85% of the prawn landings are from the west coast. Substantial quantities of prawns are also landed from backwaters, estuaries and coastal lagoons. In the prawn and shrimp production of the world which was 690,000 tonnes in 1967, the marine prawn catch of India formed about 13%. Taking the annual average of prawn production in the past one decade, among the major prawn producing countries, India has ranked next only to the United States of America.