Evaluation of Performance of Primary Fisheries Cooperative Societies (MSS) of Tripura

Fishermen cooperatives are recognized as means of socio-economic development of fishers/fish farming community, which generally belong to weaker section of the society. The state of Tripura has made significant progress in fish production by 197 per cent from 2004–05 to 2011–12. An attempt has been made in this paper to analyse the status of Fishermen Cooperatives in Tripura with respect to water holdings and fish and fish seed production. It has been found that the fishermen cooperative in Tripura like other states of the country is not encouraging because majority of them are either defunct or dormant. Total water area of their operation is only 402.30 ha (1.28% of state's total fishery resource). The distribution of the water resource amongst the cooperative is also skewed. The contribution of cooperatives in production of fish and fish seed of the state is quite low.