Abstract :
Fishing is one of the main important sources of income of the people who live near the
riverine ecosystem and it has a significant impact on their livelihood and socio-economic
development. The focus of the study was to collect important data on the socio-economic and
livelihood conditions of the fishermen communities in the estuarine part of the Subarnarekha river
at the Kirtania and Chandrabali villages in the Baleswar district of Odisha from June, 2020 to May,
2021 through the standard questionnaire survey method. Most of the fishermen were from Hindu
families and belonged to the age between 31 and 40 (52 %). Illiteracy was found to be one of the vital
issues in the study area, as about 28% of respondents were found to be illiterate and only 50% had
signatory power. Fishing was the primary occupation of over 72 % of fishermen in the study area,
followed by daily labor 18% and agriculture 10%. Around 62 % of fishermen have 5-6 family
members, 20% have 7-10 family members, and 18% have only 2-4 family members. The
average annual income of most fishermen was between Rs. 25000 and Rs.50000 (46 %). In the study,
approximately 58 % of fishermen have a Kuchcha house, 34 % have a semi-kuchcha house, and only
4% have a pukka house. They face several problems, including illiteracy, insufficient credit
facilities, a lack of scientific knowledge as well as lack of government funding and so on. To address
these issues, the government must be more constructive, and local non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) must have to play a vital role in enhancing the local fishing community's socio-economic
development.
Keyword :
Socio-economic, Estuarine, Fishermen, Livelihood, Literacy, Subarnarekha river.