Introduction:
A variety of tobacco habits are prevalent in India which differ from region to region. However use of both Smokeless and Smoking tobacco prevalence was found to be considerably higher among the rural population and certain marginalized groups like the fishermen community. A fisherman, usually belongs to lower socioeconomic status, captures fish and other animals from water, or sells fish for their livelihood. They have prolonged hours of continuous work, which are found to be correlated with high cigarette and alcohol consumption.

Objectives:
To compare the tobacco use and knowledge regarding ill effects of tobacco use among fishermen and non-fishermen population.

Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 315 fishermen residing at Veerampattinam, Pondicherry. After obtaining ethical approval, the subjects were selected using multistage cluster random sampling. Data regarding tobacco use and oral lesions were collected by 3 trained and calibrated examiners using interview method and ADA type 3 examinations. Data was entered in Microsoft excel spread sheet and analyzed using SPSS software version 21.

Results:
Among the fishermen, 64 (78%) had not used any form of tobacco and 18 (22%) had used some form of tobacco. Among the non-fishermen 215 (92%) had not used any form of tobacco and 18 (8%) used some form of tobacco. Among tobacco users 8 (2.5%) had Leukoplakia, 7 (2.2%) had lichen planus and 2 (0.6%) had ulcerations. 11.4% of the study subjects were smokers and 9% were smokeless tobacco users. Only 50% of the study subjects believe exposure to second hand smoke causes serious illness to non-smokers.

Conclusion(s):
Findings of the present study suggest that fishermen had increased tobacco use than non-fishermen residing in the same community. Also fishermen had relatively poor knowledge on the ill effects of tobacco.