With fishing banned in the state until August 1, traditional fishermen and locals turn to catching crabs to earn a seasonal income, writes Bhiva P Parab
It is monsoon time and the demand for inland water crabs (kurlio) is high as locals and tourists yearn for seafood. Although the market for crabs is throughout the year, the demand increases in the rainy months due to less fish available in the market. To boost the crab production, the state government launched a new scheme, the Financial Assistance for Setting up of Crab Farming Unit in Goa. The scheme promotes commercial mud crab (Scylla serrata) cultivation and encourages eco-friendly aquaculture. The scheme will remain in force for three years.
Under the scheme beneficiaries can avail subsidies for pen culture and box crab culture units. General category applicants are eligible for subsidies of up to Rs 4 lakh, while SC/ST and women beneficiaries can receive up to Rs 4.8 lakh for setting up vertical box crab culture units, along with additional assistance towards input costs.
Eligible beneficiaries include fish farmers, traditional fishermen, individuals, registered self-help groups and societies. The initiative aims to generate employment, encourage entrepreneurship in fisheries and increase sustainable seafood production in Goa. Inland water crabs which are rich in protein are found almost everywhere in the state. However they are priced high in the local markets and cost around Rs 50 to Rs 100 per piece or sometimes more depending on the size. As such, the bigger the size more the price.
Sea crabs are cheaper than inland crabs and a ‘vato’ consisting of 10 crabs may be priced at around Rs 200, depending on the availability. Sometimes if the crab catch is plentiful, residents are lucky
to get crabs cheaply.
According to a restaurant owner, crabs are a hot favorite among tourists and therefore is priced higher vis-à-vis other dishes on the menu. Tourists do not mind shelling out more as crab curry is considered as an integral part of Goan seafood. The ground level situation on crabs is pinching. With consumption increasing by the day the demand outpaces supply by a wide margin. In future too, the demand-supply mismatch is expected to continue and even widen unless steps are taken to increase output.
The new scheme of the government may help in reducing the gap between demand-supply. Crab supply in Goa is from marine and inland fishing. Bulk of the supply is marine crabs and they are caught by local trawlers.
“Crabs are sold at various prices depending on the quantity available and the demand. Inland water crabs are much sought after during the monsoons as crabs are suitable for preparing curry and also frying,” said a local fish vendor, Kunda.
“For catching the inland water crabs some people go to rivulets and other small water bodies,” the vendor said and added, “If the fishermen finds a giant crab he can sell it for as much as Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per piece. Big crabs are mostly purchased by the hoteliers.”
Crab meat has very good demand in Singapore and Far East Asia but because of local low supply it is difficult to think of Goa exporting crabs. The production is low because fishing methods are traditional and there is no attempt to inculcate modern methods of cultivation. The production of crabs may be less as compared to sardines (tarlo) and mackerals (bangdo). As such inland water crabs are more popular than marine crabs.
Traditional crabs fishing in Goa is done in the creeks, rice fields, close to the sluice gates and on inundated ‘khazan’ land. The catch is with the help of handmade traps called a ‘cobllem.’ The traps are usually set up during high tide, although crabs can also be caught at low tide. In Crab Pen Culture, the pens are constructed using the locally available bamboo splits or areca nut logs or cane and roughly 1000 to1500 crabs of 100 g each could be stocked per pen. The crab need to be fed once a day during high tide with low-cost fishes, mussels, clams and snails.
The process of crab culture is easy, however one needs to keep feeding the crabs well and proper hiding places need to be made. The area of cultivation needs to be sufficiently big for a higher survival rate. Crabs are tasty and many countries import huge amount of crabs for consumption every year. Goa must aim to export crabs to earn foreign exchange.
The advantages of crab pens vis-a-vis farming other varieties of fish is that, crab farming does not need too many hands and so the labour cost is not high. The production cost of crabs is comparatively lower and they grow fast, according to the information available from the sources.
