Livelihood Analysis of Ornamental Fish Producers in Mumbai and Thane Districts of Maharashtra State

The present study was conducted to assess the livelihood status of ornamental fish producers in the Mumbai and Thane districts of Maharashtra. A total of 30 ornamental fish producers were taken as the sample out of 90 for present study of which 22 are men and 08 are women. The semi-structured interview schedule was prepared as per the livelihood profile of the Department for International Development (DFID) framework. The socio-economic status indicates that the majorities of the producers were literate, middle-age group and had more than 05 years of experience. The sustainable livelihood framework indicates five type of capital i.e. natural, physical, financial, human and social capital with 05 indicators each. Primary data were collected through surveys using semi structured interview schedules and stakeholder meetings. Altogether 30 ornamental fish producers out of 90 as per MPEDA (2012) from Mumbai and Thane districts were interviewed once during the study. The study revealed that the normalized mean score of natural, physical, human, financial and social capital was 0.31, 0.70, 0.56, 0.39 and 0.49 respectively. Further, the pentagon diagram of the DFID model indicated the higher score of physical and financial capital in the districts signifies that the location advantage as Mumbai is metropolitan city and Thane is rapidly developing adjacent to Mumbai with high demand for ornamental fishes. It can be seen that natural, human and social capital relatively plays a lesser role in the production activity. For improving social capital, the formation of cooperative societies of the ornamental fish producers as well as SHG’s or producer’s company will be most appropriate measure. Human capital can be improved by organizing training in sector of ornamental fisheries like breeding, feeding, disease management and marketing and export for entrepreneurs, technicians and skilled and unskilled labor which will also increase the income of the producers.