A fitness assessment study among young fishermen of coastal areas of East Midnapore District of West Bengal, India

West Bengal is the fourth most populated state situated in the Eastern Region of India, 82 million people stay in the State. It is 2.7% of India's area but about 7.8% of the country's population. This state ranks first in terms of density of 904 per sq. km as per the 2001 census. The boundaries of the state are Nepal, Bhutan and the Sikkim on the North, Goalpara district of Assam and Bangladesh on the East, Orissa and the Bay of Bengal on the South and Bihar on the West. The coastal area of West Bengal is the home of some of the poorest people, living in some of the least served and remote areas of the State; the 3 coastal districts i.e. South and North 24 Parganas and Purba (East) 1 Midnapore. Fishery is considered as one of the brightest 2 and most prosperous industries in India. Among the population of the 82 million peoples of West Bengal, (census, 2001) more than 2.4 million are fishers who live in West Bengal (whereas 33 million people are involved in 3,4 fishing in India) (Table 1).