International Journal of Marine Science 2015, Vol.5, No.28, 1-8
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Table 2 Gross and Net Income of sample fishermen
S. No. Particulars
Serious( ) Medium( ) Low( )
1
Gross income 231524
329462
468816
2
Net income
21099
52757
151237
Note: Figure in the parentheses indicate percentage to total
cent. The net income also revealed the same pattern
like gross income and it was highest for low affected
fishermen with Rs. 151237. It was higher over
medium affected fishermen by 286.67 per cent and
also higher over serious affected fishermen by 716.80
per cent. Thus the gross and net income was coincided
with the pollution intensity.
2.3 Production efficiency of fish production
Cobb-Douglas production function was employed to
study the relationship between the fish catch and the
inputs used in the fish production for the three
categories of serious, medium and low affected
fishermen and the results are furnished in Table 3.
Table 3 Production function for total fish production
S.No.
Variables
Serious
Medium
Low
1
Regression constant
2.48
1.97
0.53
2
Depreciation cost ( )
-
0.52**
0.10**
0.005
NS
3
Fuel cost /trip
0.26**
0.06**
0.15**
4
Human labour (Number of fishermen/trip)
0.11**
0.16**
0.15**
5
Maintenance cost /trip
0.85**
0.87**
0.66**
6
R
2
0.99
0.98
0.98
7
(
2
R
)
0.99
0.98
0.98
Note: ** Significance at 1 percent level; **Significance at 5 percent level; NS Non-significance
2.4 Serious affected fishermen
For serious affected fishermen, the catch responded
significantly to the inputs such as depreciation cost,
fuel cost, number of fishermen per trip and the
maintenance cost. The fish catch and depreciation cost
had a negative relationship with coefficient value of
-0.52 which showed the seriousness of pollution that as
the boat usage increased (consequent increased
depreciation), it resulted in decreased fish catch. The
coefficients of fuel cost, numbers of fishermen and
maintenance cost were positive and significant at one
per cent level with coefficient values of 0.26, 0.11 and
0.85 respectively. This was in line with the findings of
Najmudeen and Sathiadhas (2007) who have shown
that fish catch was positively responded to fuel cost and
maintenance and repair cost along the Kerala coast by
employing Cobb-Douglas production function. Also
another study conducted in lower Amazon by Almedia
et.al. (1997) by employing Cobb-Douglas production
function showed that gross revenue per catch was
positively influenced by number of fishermen,
depreciation and fuel inputs. In their study, the
depreciation had a positive influence because it was
fishing in good water.
The ratio between MVP and MIC was also worked out
for this category and the results are given in the Table 4.
The input is used efficiently if the ratio between MVP
and MIC was one. A ratio of more than one and less
than one would indicate underutilization and over
utilization respectively .It could be seen from the Table
that this ratio between MVP and MIC of depreciation
cost of boat, fuel cost and human labour was less than
one. It indicated that the above resources were over
utilized and there exists a possibility for enhancing the
fish catch quantity by decreasing the respective inputs
from the existing level. The ratio of MVP and MIC of
maintenance cost was more than one and it indicates
underutilized.
Table 4 Economic efficiency of resource use of serious affected
fishermen (MVP/MIC ratio)
S. No Variables
Serious
Moderate Low
1
Depreciation cost ( ) 0.00096 0.0002
0.0005
2
Fuel cost/trip
0.1677
0.0490
0.125
3
Human labour
0.0044
0.0063
0.008
4
Maintenance cost
1.499
1.574
1.849
2.5 Medium affected fishermen
For medium affected fishermen, the catch responded
significantly to the inputs. The coefficient of
depreciation cost of boat, fuel cost, number of
fishermen and maintenance cost were positive and
significant at one percent level with coefficient values
0.10, 0.06, 0.16 and 0.87 respectively. In this category,
the depreciation had a positive influence over the fish
