Migrant labourers form 58% of workers in Kerala’s fisheries sector: CMFRI

Migrant labourers dominate Kerala’s marine fisheries sector, accounting for 58% of the fishing workforce, according to a study by the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI).

The study, conducted across harvest, post-harvest and market segments, indicates that migrant workers have emerged as the backbone of the marine sector in the State, a CMFRI release said.

The findings were from the Kerala component of the national research project on changing dynamics of labour migration on employment, livelihoods and resource productivity patterns in the Indian marine fisheries sector.

The study found that Munambam harbour in Ernakulam district has the highest concentration of migrant labourers, 78%, in Kerala’s mechanised fishing sector.

The migrant labourers are mostly from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Odisha, the release said, quoting the study.

Migrants constitute 50% in post-harvest units and 40% in fish markets, it added.