Lessons Learned - Fisheries KnO 100390_Plywood boats in South India

Plywood boats

Practical Action

 By the end of 1991, a full decade after the first PWB was launched, there were

about 2500 PWBs in operation. In the face of increased competition from the

private sector, the combined market share of the BBC Muttom and SIFFS yards

stood at 50 per cent. There was an exponential increase in the rate at which PWBs

were purchased and built during the decade. Of the PWBs in operation in 1991, it

took 4.5 years to supply the first 600 boats. The second 600 were built and sold in

another 2.2 years. The third and fourth lots of 600 entered the fishery even more

rapidly - in 1.5 and 1 years respectively.

‘In search of a drawing’ was the title Pierre Gillet originally gave to his personal reflections on

the effort he made between 1973 and 1987 to build an appropriate boat for the traditional

fishermen of the region2. With over 600 plywood boats crossing the surf today (May 1995)

there is no doubt this search has met with considerable success. Not one, but many drawings

have been made. The innovation process continues unabated, with the numerous models

designed over the years making it possible to talk about a genealogy of plyboats in a matter of

a little over a decade.

Lessons Learned

Many lessons about technology transfer and diffusion were learned from this experience. The

transfer of technologies from foreign lands, using non-local experts, is not necessarily

inappropriate in itself. What makes it so is often the manner in which technologies are

introduced - without reference to what already exists. To prevent a mismatch, close

interaction between users and technology generators is a prime requirement for introducing

productive technologies into traditional societies. Even such participatory methods, can still

lead to sterile R&D of little practical significance or socio-economic relevance however, if the

supply and demand for innovation is not understood. To make an innovation commercially

feasible a variety of issues need to be carefully addressed: proper infrastructure and

institutional support; finance; issues regarding patents; and the ability to respond quickly to

crises, to name a few. Being equipped for these challenges requires a degree of

organisational flexibility: the path to new technologies is not a smooth, even, line.

Improvements in the existing technologies, the slow development of complementary

innovations and temporary, unanticipated set-backs in the new technology cause 'friction'

which hampers the diffusion process,

So how will the diffusion of the motorised plywood boat affect the future of the fish economy

of the lower south-west region? The plywood boats have become an integral and indispensable

part of both the technical apparatus of the small-scale fishery and the local economy.

Whether this will spur fresh demands for new boat designs, boat-building materials, or any

other technological and institutional changes, only time will tell.

References

 Kurien, J., 'New Craft Designs and Motorisation in Artisanal Fishing: An

Evaluation of the Kottarkat'.1984.

 Gillet, P., Small is Difficult: The pangs and success of small boat technology

transfer in South India'. 1985.

John Kurien has been associated with the development of community-based institutions in

Kerala for over 15 years. He is an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Development Studies

Prasantnagar Road. Trivandrum. 695 039. Ullool; Kerala, India.