Molluscs and biotechnology In: Winter School on Vistas in Marine Biotechnology 5th to 26th October 2010

Mohamed, K S (2010) Molluscs and biotechnology In: Winter School on Vistas in Marine Biotechnology 5th to 26th October 2010. [Teaching Resource]

Text Vistas in Marine Biotechnology_2010_Chp 3.pdf Download (75kB)

Abstract

Animals of the phylum Mollusca occupy every trophic level in the marine environment. Three classes of Mollusca are of fisheries interest, namely, Gastropoda, Bivalvia and Cephalopoda. The exploitation of these shelled animals in India, range from the very old and historic records of exploitation of pearl oysters and chanks to the very modern trawling for cephalopods. Available production statistics reveals that annually more than 1,00,000 tonnes of cephalopods are harvested from the Indian seas, besides another 1,00,000 tonnes of gastropods and bivalves. The economic importance of cephalopods to the country is considerable as they earn more than Rs. 1400 crores (more than 16% in terms of quantity and more than 15% in terms of value of total marine products exports) every year through exports. In fact, every second cephalopod consumed by Europeans originates from India.

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