This paper highlights some sustainability concerns related to Andhra Pradesh’s marine fisheries by using primary data. The analysis shows that several serious problems lie beneath the estimates of the quantity and value of annual marine catch from the state. The issue of targeted, incidental and by-catch in this multispecies fishery is interlinked in complex ways. A host of internal and external factors of the marine system drive the harvest. Increasing demand for shrimp, other high-value fishes, subadults, and juveniles of various species for consumption from different consumer segments, a thriving poultry or aquaculture feed industry and the perceived opportunity cost of avoiding or minimising the non-targeted catch by the fishers act as critical drivers threatening the sustainability of fisheries. If strict measures are not adopted, the AP fishery might collapse sooner than later.
