The Work-Wage Relationship in the Traditional Ring Seine Fisheries of Kerala

Behaviour of fishery wages obtained by crew of artisanal ring seine fishing units based at Alleppey District was studied over a period of two years. The results have shown that the average wage at Rs. 60 per trip of 8 to 10 h duration is comparable to wages in other less organised primary sectors of agriculture related activities. The distribution of the wages over periods shows that there are long spells of low wages and very short spells of high wages. Unlike the commonly held belief, it is seen that extremely low wages and extrmely high wages are not season determined. Both tend to concentrate in the same time segment.