Thoothukudi Salt Pan Pearl Fishery Gulf of Mannar Tamil Nadu

Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) district on the Gulf of Mannar coast is India's premier salt production centre, where 40,000+ hectares of coastal salt pans produce over 3 million tonnes annually — 30% of India's salt production — using the shallow coastal topography and 9-10 months of sunshine for solar evaporation. Thoothukudi's traditional pearl fishery in the Gulf of Mannar — the Paravai community's pearl diving tradition of holding breath for 2-3 minutes to collect Pinctada radiata oysters — was the world's most productive pearl fishery for 2,000 years before overfishing depleted the beds in the 20th century. The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, established in the 21 Mannar islands adjacent to Thoothukudi, protects sea grass beds, coral reefs, and dugong (sea cow) — one of the last viable dugong habitats in Indian waters.