THEMATIC MAPPING OF FISHERIES

INFRASTRUCTURAL FACILITIES IN GREATER

MUMBAI REGION
S. S. Ghatge*, R. S. Biradar and K. Lohith Kumar.
Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai.
*Corresponding author, Email id: swapnilcife@gmail.com

Abstract:
The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote sensing (RS)
technology in decision-making and policy development by preparing thematic maps,
inventories and specific GIS applications is growing rapidly in many fields of resource
management. In India, use of GIS in fisheries is yet to find its rightful place. An effort
was made in the present study to prepare thematic maps of the fisheries infrastructural
facilities in the Greater Mumbai region of Maharashtra state using GIS, RS and Global
Positioning System (GPS) technologies. Survey of India (SOI) topographical maps and
Landsat satellite imagery were used as spatial data sets. Geographical coordinates
(Latitude and Longitude)

of

19 fish landing centres, 23 fisherman villages, 30

fisheries cooperative societies, 11 important fish markets and nine fisheries related
organizations in the study area, were collected with help of GPS handheld unit and
integrated in the ArcGIS 9.2 to prepare thematic maps.

Introduction:
"Mapping the fishery and the resources should be among the priority tasks
when planning for fisheries management and should not be postponed until "complete"
information is available, since redundancies or blanks in the information base will
more readily appear in the process of elaboration" (Caddy and Garcia, 1986). Their
work was a notable exception amongst those working in fisheries sciences, having
recognition in the past of the advantages to be gained for fisheries management from
visually based mapping techniques (Kapetsky and Manjarrez, 2007).
Butler et al. (1987) prepared a manual with practical guidelines and principles
of cartography which elaborated the basic concepts underlying preparation of maps and

charts, collection of fisheries geographical information and graphical techniques to

improve information transfer from cartographic representation to the end user.
A map corresponds to an international 'common language' and communication
tool, so that anyone including even children can easily understand the information
presented in map. Maps enable anyone to overcome the frustration of an 'illiteracy
syndrome' that difficult words otherwise impose and so allow everyone to be more
content (Nishida, 2001). A special purpose map, prepared with an objective to show
distribution of a theme (such as fisherman villages) is known as thematic map (Chang,
2007).
A synoptic map can be an invaluable basic document for investment planning
and for display of economic information in a spatial context (e.g. socioeconomic status
of fishermen, rates of unemployment, etc.). One of the areas where information of
different types needs to be combined in this way is in preparation of management plans
for fisheries. Caddy and Garcia (1986) pointed that the Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) have been recommending that spatial
management via mapping should be a prerequisite for the strategic development of
fisheries. Although this was difficult in the past, the advent of GIS has opened up
extraordinary opportunities.
A thematic map can be used to highlight the particular coastal areas which
support the natural resources (mangroves, coral reefs, etc.)

and manmade

infrastructural facilities like fisherman villages, landing centres, fish markets,

processing plants, export units, which are the basic means to exploit natural fishery
resources. All the natural and infrastructural facilities available can be expressed on a
thematic map, which is of direct relevance to all users and administrators of the marine
environment for proper understanding, planning, management and optimal utilisation
of available facilities and resources. Malhotra and Sinha (2007) and Pillai and Katiha
(2004) pointed out that lack of proper resource database in Indian fisheries sector
makes proper planning, execution and monitoring difficult.
In India, use of GIS in fisheries is yet to find its rightful place. Thematic maps
of different types of industries, is not uncommon even in school atlas, but in case of
fisheries sector the availability of thematic maps of landing centre, fisherman villages,
fisheries cooperative societies, fish hatcheries, fish markets, fish processing industries,
etc is lacking. The present study aims to utilize the GIS, RS and GPS technology to
prepare thematic maps of the fisheries infrastructural facilities in Greater Mumbai
2

region of Maharashtra in order to benefit fisherman, fisheries related individuals,

planners, administrators, students and general public.

Methodology:
Study Area:
The study area of Greater Mumbai region which lies off the Northern Konkan
coast of Maharashtra state, is set in the shimmering waters of the Arabian Sea between
latitude 1853'45" N and 1915' N and longitude 7245'E and 7300'E. The Greater
Mumbai region comprises of the Mumbai city district and Mumbai suburban district,
which contributes about 40% to the total annual fish production of Maharashtra state.

Data sets:
The post-monsoon, cloud free, orthorectified digital satellite image Landsat 7
Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor of October 2001, (path/row 148/47)
acquired from University of Marylands Global Land Cover Facility (GLCF) website
(http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.shtml) and Survey of India (SOI) topographical
maps 47 A/15 (1971), 47 A/16 (1976), and 47 B/13 (1970) on 1:50,000 scale, traced
from Geography department of Mumbai University, Kalina, Mumbai were used as base
datasets. GPS handheld unit of Garmin etrex was used to collect the geographical
coordinates of all the entities under study by conducting field visits during the time
period December 2007 to February 2008.

Thematic Mapping:
Presently variety of mapping methodologies have made their appearance,
ranging from highly participatory approaches involving village sketch maps to more
technical efforts with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing
(RS) (Chapin et al., 2005). In the present study ArcGIS 9.2 was used to carry out the
thematic mapping of fisheries infrastructural facilities in Greater Mumbai region. The
Universal Transverse Mercator projection (UTM) system was used as the projection
system and World Geodetic System (WGS) 1984 was used as the geographical coordinate system with WGS 84 datum.
Visual interpretation method was used to carry on-screen digitization in the
ArcMap interface for extractacting regional boundaries of Mumbai city district and the

Mumbai suburban district from SOI topographical maps. The Greater Mumbai region
coastline has been changing over the past decades due to reclamation activities, and
the SOI topographical maps available were of 1970s, so in order to prepare a coastline
boundary map of the recent years, the Landsat the satellite imagery ETM+ of the year
2001 was used to digitize the coastal boundaries of the study area. The digitized
features were then combined in Arc Map 9.2 to prepare the base map for Greater
Mumbai region.
In the Arc Map 9.2 interface thematic maps of landing centres, fisherman
villages, and cooperative societies, important fish markets, fisheries related
organizations in Greater Mumbai region were prepared using the base map and the
geographical coordinates collected.

Results:
Thematic maps of fisheries infrastructure facilities including 19 fish landing
centres, 23 fisherman villages, 11 important fish markets, 30 fisheries cooperative
societies and nine fisheries related organizations were prepared by utilizing base maps
and geographical coordinates. The thematic maps are given below;

Map 1: Fish landing centres of the

Greater Mumbai region.
4

Map 2: Fisherman villages of the

Map 3: Important fish markets in

Greater Mumbai region.

Greater Mumbai region.

Map 4: Co-operative societies in the

Map 5: Fisheries related organizations

Greater Mumbai region.

in Greater Mumbai region.

Discussion:
Visualization in the spatial domain is conventionally carried out via mapping or
graphical means, with a map usually being described as a 2-D simplified representation
of spatial reality. Even for the non specialist there is an old adage which says - A map
is worth a thousand words (FAO, 2006). The economic welfare of a nation or region
is directly dependent on proper planning and management of the available natural
resources and infrastructure facilities, to benefit the people.
The aim of present study was achieved by preparing thematic maps of the
fisheries infrastructural facilities in Greater Mumbai region of Maharashtra utilizing the
GIS, RS and GPS technology, which will immensely benefit fishers and other
stakeholders. Synoptic maps of the main concentrations of fisherman villages, fishing
ports and beach landing points, markets, processing, freezing and transshipment points,
form a basis for proper statistical survey methodologies, for estimating catches, effort,
species composition, etc. These maps can be conveniently used for cross-referencing
with the filing system where information from various sampling points is stored and
also be used as a base for scheduling of the activities (and travel budgets) of statistical
officer. Further the results of this study will benefit in identification of most
economically important activities and their interrelationships as described by Caddy
and Garcia (1986).
The thematic maps of the present study can be used as basic documents for
investment planning and for display of economic information of fisher folk in a spatial
context. By giving a clear picture of distribution of the available fisheries infrastructure
facilities, these maps will help to optimally utilize the available infrastructure and in
planning development of necessary infrastructure as per the needs to tap the unutilized
natural resources.
Mapping the distribution of the fishery resources in Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ), fishing trip mapping, major fishing areas, marine protected area, pollution
status of surrounding waters, etc. if carried in relation to these thematic maps can
reveal new interrelationships to plan, manage and utilize the resources. Site selection of
processing units and fish markets can be made using these thematic maps in GIS
environment. According to Butler et al. (1987) maps have a catalytic effect on
development and prevent the main source of haphazard planning which is the lack of
easily understood information. In relation to the development and exploitation of

marine resources, a mapping program can address critical information needs

concerning, for instance, fisheries, oceanography, geology, navigation, coastal
development and local political
realities. In addition, such important topics as education and training can be addressed.

Conclusion:
The thematic maps of Fisheries infrastructural facilities in Greater Mumbai
region will be of immense help to planners and administrators in proper understanding
of distribution of available facilities, optimal utilisation of available infrastructural
facilities and planning for development of new infrastructure. Along with planners and
administrators, students, people related to fisheries industry and general public will get
a synoptic view and better understanding of fisheries infrastructural facilities available
in Greater Mumbai region. These maps will be useful as base maps to spatially display
the natural resources available in marine environment. Similar efforts may be made to
prepare the thematic maps of available infrastructural facilities of Indian fishing
industry.

References:
Butler, M.J.A, LeBlanc, C., Belbin, J.A. and MacNeill, J.L. (1987), Marine Resource
Mapping: An Introductory Manual. Rome: FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No.
274.
Caddy, J. F. and Garcia, S. (1986), Fisheries Thematic Mapping A Prerequisite for
Intelligent Management and Development of Fisheries, Oceanogr. Trop.
21(1), 31-52.
Chang Kang-tsung. (2007), Introduction to Geographical Information Systems, Fourth
edition, New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.
Chapin, M., Lamb, Z., and Threlked, B. (2005), Mapping Indigenous Lands, In:
Annual review of Anthropology. 34, 619-638.
FAO (2006), Glossary of Aquaculture, http://www.fao.org/fi/glossary/aquaculture/
Kapetsky, J.M., and Aguilar-Manjarrez, J. (2007), Geographic Information Systems,
Remote Sensing and Mapping for the Development and Management of Marine
Aquaculture Rome: FAO, Fisheries Technical Paper 458.

Malohtra, S. P. and Sinha, V. R. P. (2007), Indian Fisheries and aquaculture in a

globalizing economy, Delhi: Narendra Publishing house.
Nishida, T. (2001), Preface and overview, in First International Symposium on GIS
in Fishery Science, Washington, 1999.
Pillai, N. G. K. and Katiha, P. K. (2004), Evolution of Fisheries and aquaculture in
India, Kochi- India: Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.