Coastal Rural Indebtedness and Impact of Microfinance in Marine Fisheries Sector

The importance of the study in this regard was on the impact assessment of microfinance on rural indebtedness in marine fisheries sector as well as to assess the extent of indebtedness among marine fisherfolk in mechanized, motorized and traditional sectors and the role of credit agencies in providing credit. The credit utilization pattern of marine fisherfolk in availing the credit as well as repayment behaviour also was studied so as to document the prospects and constraints in marine fisheries credit sector. The marine production front with a total landing of 3.84 million tonnes is maintaining its economic vibrancy. The completion of the Marine Census 2010 once again proves our competence in undertaking such nationwide exercises. As this project was undertaken throughout the coastal belts of the country covering four zones such as North East, North West, South East and South West zones to assess extent of indebtedness among the members and nonmembers of microfinance institutions, it gives a highlight on the impact of microfinance on coastal indebtedness and success stories of MFIs on entrepreneurial capacity building which significantly played the role in the debt redemption and poverty alleviation.