PUBLISHED BY: Office of the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Mangrove Cell, IInd Floor, SRA Building, Anant Kanekar Marg, Bandra East, Mumbai, Funded by The GoI‐UNDP‐GEF Sindhudurg Project. Editor N. Vasudevan Authors Dr. Subir Ghosh, Project Coordinator Daya Patki, Project Management Specialist Durga Thigale, Project Management Specialist Rohit Sawant, Project Management Specialist Project Team N. Vasudevan (IFS), Nodal Officer Sindhudurg Project and Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Mangrove Cell Lianchawii Chhakchuak, Programme Analyst Kishore Wankhade, Project Manager Dr Subir Ghosh, Project Coordinator Daya Patki, Project Management Specialist Durga Thigale, Project Management Specialist Rohit Sawant, Project Management Specialist Rinky Rajdev, Project Management Specialist Suvarna Khandare, Finance and Administrative Assistant Sneha Pillai, United Nations Volunteer Avadhoot Velankar, Unted Nations Volunteer Aditi Tandon, United Nations Volunteer MANGROVE CELL MAHARASHTRA FOREST DEPARTMENT BEST PRACTICES IN COASTAL LIVELIHOOD GENERATION Lessons from GoI‐UNDP‐GEF Sindhudurg Project (2012‐2017) INTRODUCTION The UNDP‐GEF project on “Mainstreaming Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Conservation into Production Sectors in Sindhudurg”, implemented by Mangrove Cell of Maharashtra Forest Department from 2012 to 2017 has resulted in generation of good practices in the areas of planning; sustainable resource use; conservation of coastal and marine biodiversity; climate change and sustainable livelihood. Many of these good practices may be applicable in the sustainable development context of other coastal districts of Maharashtra as well as other coastal States. Considering the emphasis being laid on attaining the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN, it is necessary that these good practices are replicated in other districts of the State as well as in other states of country. Whereas most of these good practices are relevant in the context of other coastal districts within the state as well as to other coastal states of the country, some of these practices may be applicable in the context of sustainable development of non‐coastal districts too. In this volume Mangrove Cell brings out the best practices in Coastal Livelihood generation implemented as part of the GoI‐UNDP‐GEF Sindhudurg Project. 2 CONTENTS Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Livelihood Activities in SCME ............................................................................................................... 4 Mangrove Crab Farming ........................................................................................................................ 5 Oyster Farming ..................................................................................................................................... 17 Mussel Culture ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Integrated Multi Trophic Aquaculture ................................................................................................ 35 System of Rice Intensification ............................................................................................................ 40 3 LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES IN SCME The UNDP‐GEF project is being implemented, in the Sindhudurg Coastal and Marine Ecosystem (SCME), which includes the coastal talukas of Devgad, Malvan and Vengurla, the Malvan Marine Sanctuary, the Angria Bank and the marine waters that connect the MMS and Angria Bank. The total population of the project area is estimated to be287,477 persons. There are 166 Panchayats and 316 villages (including 80 fishing villages) in the project area. The per capita income of the district in 2005‐06 was INR 32,862 against the state average of INR 42,056. The district income in 2005‐06 stood at INR 2,996 crores, when State Domestic Product was INR 438,058 crores, which is just 0.68 percent of the state’s income. The population below the poverty line is 29.80, 35.49 and 41.15 percent in Devgad, Malvan and Vengurla respectively, the average being 35.48 percent. The average literacy rate in the 3 talukas is 80 percent, with female and male literacy rate being 71.2 and 90.3 percent respectively. The average population density of the three talukas is 218 persons per square kilometer. Livelihood activities in the SCME are dominated by marine fishing. Tourism is a growing economic activity. Livelihood activities, other than fishing, include animal husbandry and agriculture. The principal agricultural crops are paddy, coconut, mango, cashew and Kokam. Taking into account the natural resources, the livelihood activities which were promoted in the coastal region of the Sindhudurg district under the UNDP‐ GEF project are discussed here (table 1). TableTable 1.1. ImprovedImproved livelihoodslivelihoods forfor coastalcoastal communitiescommunities ofof MaharashtraMaharashtra CrabCrab FarmingFarming BivalveBivalve FarmingFarming IntegratedIntegrated Multi-trophicMulti-trophic SystemSystem ofof RiceRice aquacultureaquaculture IntensificationIntensification MangroveMangrove area:area: 222222 sq.sq. kmkm Resources:Resources: 162162 creekscreeks Resources:Resources: 162162 creekscreeks Resources:Resources: PaddyPaddy growinggrowing areaarea PrivatePrivate mangrove:mangrove: 1300013000 haha (41,636(41,636 ha)ha) (41,636(41,636 ha)ha) inin Konkan-Konkan- 4,13,6004,13,600 haha BenefitsBenefits:: Benefits:Benefits: Benefits:Benefits: Benefits:Benefits: AdaptationAdaptation toto SeaSea LevelLevel RiseRise AdaptationAdaptation toto SeaSea LevelLevel RiseRise AdaptationAdaptation toto SeaSea LevelLevel RiseRise --AdaptationAdaptation toto SeaSea LevelLevel RiseRise -diversification-diversification ofof livelihoodlivelihood diversificationdiversification ofof livelihoodlivelihood throughthrough incresedincresed productivityproductivity throughthrough mariculturemariculture throughthrough mariculturemariculture AdditionalAdditional livelihoodlivelihood activityactivity AdditionalAdditional sourcesource ofof incomeincome AdditionalAdditional sourcesource ofof incomeincome EnhancedEnhanced foodfood securitysecurity withwith focusfocus onon womenwomen throughthrough oysteroyster andand musselmussel throughthrough fishfish farmingfarming -- shiftshift throughthrough betterbetter droughtdrought copingcoping entrepreneursentrepreneurs farmingfarming fromfrom landland basedbased productionproduction mechanismmechanism toto seasea basedbased farmingfarming ConservationConservation ofof privateprivate ReducedReduced pressurepressure onon marinemarine ReducedReduced pressurepressure onon marinemarine MitigationMitigation ofof ClimateClimate ChangeChange mangrovemangrove areasareas throughthrough fishfish stockstock fishfish stockstock throughthrough rreductioneduction inin emissionemission incomeincome generatinggenerating mangrovemangrove ofof methanemethane dependentdependent activityactivity 4 MANGROVE CRAB FARMING BACKGROUND Mud crab farming is very popular in Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Philippine etc. Mud crab has huge demand and price in international market. Many countries of the world import huge quantities of crabs for consumption, resulting in increasing demand for supply. To meet this demand, aquaculture of crab farming is gaining importance. However, the real benefit of crab farming lies in conservation of the mangrove resource, through such income generating activities as mariculture of crabs in pens and ponds. The importance of mangrove in protection of the shoreline against coastal erosion, flooding and environmental calamities besides providing the much needed nursery ground for early stages of coastal and marine life forms as well as in carbon sequestration are well known. Crab farming is thus playing an important role in conservation of mangroves while meeting the livelihood needs of the coastal communities. About 40% of the mangroves in Maharashtra are on private lands. These mangroves are always in the fear of being razed down for profitable enterprises. Since mangroves provide healthy breeding grounds for crabs, crab farming activities in mangrove areas help in conservation of mangrove while generating income for the coastal communities. The activity can even be taken up in mangrove areas coming under revenue land under the umbrella of Joint Mangrove Management programme. Sindhudurg district has 6,940 ha of mangrove area, distributed in Devgad, Malvan, Vengurla and part of Sawantwadi taluka. Considering 2 percent of the area may be available for crab farming, the potential area may be 138 ha or 347 acre in Sindhudurg. Mangrove Crab There are four species of mud crab, Scylla serrata, S. tranquebarica, S. paramamosain and S. olivacea that are the focus of both commercial fisheries and aquaculture production throughout the world. They are among the most valuable crab species in the world, with the bulk of their commercial production sent live to market. Fig. 1 Scylla serrate Fig. 2 Scylla olivacea Scylla serrata, commonly known as the Mangrove Crab or Green Crab, has an immense market potential all over the world, particularly in South East Asian Countries. Crab is often sold in live, in many international markets. India earns foreign exchange to the tune of around 50 Million US $ by exporting Live Mud Crab captured from the low‐lying coastal belts across the country.