Name of Beneficiary: Mr Junaid
Phone No. : 9434270877
Category (SC/ST/ OBC/ General) : Scheduled Tribe (ST), Aboriginal Nicobarese tribe
District: :Nicobar
State: Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Business/ Fisheries activity: Marine capture fisheries
Funding agency (if any):Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi
Subsidy amount (if any)and Total project cost: Nil
Scheme’s name: Guided fishing practices
Name of the institution that provided the technological intervention: ICAR- Central Island Agricultural Research Institute, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi
Technological intervention:Navigation and sea-safety in marine fishing practices
Employment generated: Marine fishing activities
Mr. Junaid, 39 a resident of Teetop fishing village, Car Nicobar Island was an active fisherman who undertakes fishing in the inshore waters of Car Nicobar . Often, he explores deep-sea fishing grounds and there were reported incidences of himself being lost in finding his way back to their fishing village due to his limited knowledge of navigation using GPS. This gap was understood and addressed by ICAR-CIARI during the field surveys in November 2022 through the DST-SEED, New Delhi-funded project on establishing a coastal fisheries information hub at Car Nicobar Island. In the month of January 2023, a one-day exposure was given to Mr Junaid on the use of GPS for navigation and marking the waypoints. To support his fishing activities, a new GPS was provided to Mr Junaid as a fishing input to enhance his confidence and to explore the distantly located fishing grounds. A few field trails were also undertaken in their fishing trips to demonstrate the use of GPS in navigating and returning to the marked location. After receiving the exposure and a new GPS, Mr Junaid gained confidence and started exploring the offshore fishing grounds. Prior to the intervention he usually sets long line fishing gear near his fishing village in inshore waters. After our intervention, he started exploring distant offshore fishing grounds which has led to a diversification in his fish catches. High-valued fish like Seer fishes and Marlins were now caught by Mr Junaid which has led to an increase in 20-30% of his weekly income when compared with the previous catches in inshore waters . This handheld GPS helps him to navigate safely to reach fishing grounds which also significantly reduces the fuel cost and time spent in fishing activities.
Contributors : R Kiruba Sankar, K Saravanan, J Praveenraj, Sirisha Adamala, D Karunakaran, Zamir Ahmed & Mohamed Sarief
