Socio Economic Factors Influencing Marine Small Scale Fishers' Income in the Batticaloa District of Sri Lanka

Abstract

The main objective of the present study is to analysis the socio economic factors contributing to the per capita income of small scale marine fishers in the Batticaloa district of Sri Lanka. It also try to explore the socio economic Characteristics of small scale marine fishers in the district. 370 fishing households were selected from the study area and a questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression method using SPSS. The study reveals that 35.4%o f the respondents were in the age group of 31 to 40 years and 51.4% of respondent had primary level of education. The literacy rate of the respondents is 87% in the small scale fisheries households in the in the study area. Average family size of small-scale fisheries households in the Batticaloa district is 4. Average monthly income of small scale fisheries was 18,284.00 Sri Lankan Rupee. The finding of the study also reveals that the estimated coefficients for variables gender, age, family size, marital status and value of fishing equipment were individually significant, for the p values were so low. F value was also very high. Therefore, these variables are very important in explaining the factors contributing to the per capita income of small scale fisheries households in the Batticaloa district.