Volume-XII, Special Issue, April 2026 |
Traditional Mud Crab (Scylla olivacea) collection and livelihood opportunities in the Indian Sundarban Manotosh Gayen, Independent Research Scholar, Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
Received: 05.04.2026 | Accepted: 07.04.2026 | Published Online: 10.04.2026 | Page No: 375-391 | ||||
DOI: 10.29032/ijhsss.vol.12.issue.specialW.306 | |||||||
ABSTRACT | ||
Mud crab (Scylla olivacea) collection is an alternative, profitable livelihood option for the coastal fisherfolk in the Indian Sundarban. According to the survey, mud crabs are primarily collected from wild sources by men, who prefer traditional methods such as hooks and baited lines (done and thopa) while fattening crabs in tidal rivers, fisheries, and earthen brackish water ponds. Most of the respondent persons have their own fisheries and rearmost crabs, collecting crablets from the riverside as a partial livelihood option. The practice of fattening crabs is based on discarded mud crab congeners of the genus Scylla, specifically Scylla serrata (Forskal, 1775), Scylla tranquebarica (Fabricius, 1798), and Scylla olivacea (Herbst, 1796) without separating species. In this context, it is believed that understanding species-level identity is essential for sustainable wild harvest, including the fattening of mud crabs that are discarded, which is significant to the rural economy of the Indian Sundarban. The majority of crab fishers sell crab in the fishing market, but the majority of them are exploited by middlemen and aratdaars. This paper attempts to highlight the traditional harvesting methods related to rules, rituals, experience, issues, and a cost-benefit marketing value chain analysis of different crab cultures in the Sundarban region of West Bengal. | ||
Keywords: Mud crab (Scylla olivacea), Species identity, the Sundarbans, traditional methods, Marketing chain |