SUSTAINABLE FISHING: AS A POST COVID 19 SCHEME
SUSTAINABLE FISHING: A CASE STUDY ON FISHING PRACTICES IN TRIVANDRUM CORPORATION
ABSTRACT
In recent years, there were reports on depleting aquatic fauna in marine and inland coast of Kerala. A major reason behind this is the unsustainable commercial fishing practices that were widely exercised in coastal areas. Thus, there has been a need for the emergence of new fishing practice that is sustainable and cost-effective. The objective of the study is to understand the socio-economic factors that affect the sustainable fishing practices, to analyze the extent of use of traditional and unsustainable fishing methods in coastal areas, to examine the effectiveness of government initiative to prevent exploitation of marine resources, to make a cost-benefit analysis of sustainable fishing techniques. The methodology used in data collection was through direct interview method and questionnaire method. Secondary data sources like journals, articles and government data were also used for gathering information. Today more than a million people in Kerala are working in fishing or allied activities. Fish is an essential part of a Malayali’s diet. Thus, the demand for fish has been increasing every day. The commercial fishing practices resulted in the extinction of a wide range of fish varieties. The small-scale fishermen are particularly vulnerable due to the extinction of fish varieties. This has raised the need for sustainable fishing. Increased productivity from sustainable fishing can be a driver for rural development by mitigating risks to livelihood and contributing to income and employment. The conclusions derived from the study are most of the fishing families are either unaware of the sustainable fishing method practices or are not keen on adopting those techniques due to the expensive cost. The govt. measures were effective in the marketing level as most of the fish markets have been hygienic but when it comes to the actual catching process it has been a failure as most of the fishermen still use traditional or commercial fishing techniques. The recent reports of the declining number of sardines from Kerala shores are seen as a caution to the future crisis the fishing sector may face. There must be a change in fishing practices and technology to a sustainable one will help us in overcoming this crisis.
KEYWORDS: Sustainable, extinction, commercial fishing.
1. INTRODUCTION
Kerala is the fourth-largest producer of fish in India, producing around 7 lakh tonnes per year. The fishing techniques used by fishermen in Kerala are old or limited per se but on the other hand, fishermen in Kerala are highly skilled. They have great knowledge of fish, fish habits, waves, etc. The traditional fishing economy of Kerala is based on operations such as harvesting, processing, and marketing of fish. The fishing techniques used by the fishermen in Kerala are often deemed as unsustainable and exploitative. Fish varieties like Sardines have been disappearing from the Kerala coast. In the case of sardines, since 2012, its number has been declining. Between 2014 and 18, the oil sardine landings in Kerala declined from 2.5 lakh tonne to 77,000 tonnes, recording an annual average decline of 19.82%. The average price rose from Rs. 47/kg to 120/kg in the same period. This is due to the increasing demand for sardines, especially baby sardines by Keralites, making the poor traditional fishermen depend excessively on baby sardines for livelihood. The fear of extinction is not limited to sardines as not less than 25'% of the freshwater fishes in the State are facing extinction.
Kurien, J., & T. R. Thankappan Achari. (1990) in their study found out that overfishing is the main cause of depleting fish varieties from the Kerala coast. The open-access nature of fishing hadn’t been a problem in the past, as fishing was limited to a certain group of people in society. This was changed after realizing the possibilities of the sector in exports, mechanization was introduced and replaced traditional methods of fishing. The rapid entry and open-access nature of the sea resulted in overfishing. Another reason for overfishing is the use of inappropriate technology, there was a shift of approach in fishing from “passive” (trapping the fish by allowing it to entangle in the net) to “active” (hot pursuit for fish by disturbing their social environment). Booming demand for fish varieties is also an attributing factor to overfishing.
Disposal of toxic waste into the seabed is another major reason for decreasing fish varieties from the Kerala coast. A recent study conducted by an NGO named Thanal shows that there are around 1000 tonnes of plastic on the Kerala coast, half of which is single-use plastic. Single-use plastics pose a great threat to the aquatic habitat. All these threats raise the importance of the adoption of a new technique in fishing, which is environmentally and economically sustainable.
1.1 WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE FISHING?
According to Marine Stewardship council, Sustainable fishing means leaving enough fish in the ocean, respecting habitats and ensuring people who depend on fishing can maintain their livelihoods.
- The need for sustainable fishing.
As mentioned earlier, unsustainable practices like overfishing have caused a decline in fish varieties, pushing most of them to the verge of extinction. This will not only affect the species itself but the balance of the ecosystem as well. The extinction of one species will affect the habitat of the other species as well. Overfishing will lead to a domino effect in the ecosystem creating perpetual damage in the aquatic ecosystem. Environmental concerns aside, damages caused in the aquatic ecosystem will affect our seafood as well. Thus, sustainable fishing provides food for us as well as protect aquatic biodiversity.
1.2 FISHING IN TRIVANDRUM CORPORATION
The coastal line of Trivandrum Corporation is almost 35 km long. The half of Trivandrum’s total coastline is within the corporation limits. It starts from Mulloor till Kazhakootam. For our research, we chose St. Andrews beach Kazhakootam, Valiyathura and Shanghumugham. The density of population is very high all along the coastline of Trivandrum. Very rich marine wealth with a large variety of fish and a highly skilled population of fishermen has made Kerala a leading producer and consumer of fish. The high rainfall and a large number of rivers makes coast fertile for fish. The fisher folks in Trivandrum are mostly from Christianity. The Church is a strong presence in the entire coastline.
The contribution of Fisheries sector contributes almost 8.7% of Gross state value added from the primary sector which is significant to the state economy. The inland sector is sparsely seen in Trivandrum. The Marine sector is far dominant than the inland sector in Kerala, whereas Inland sector is more dominant than the marine sector in the national level. Almost 7.86 lakh tonnes fish was produced in Kerala during 2017-18 periods. Which puts us in the third position in marine fish production. Trivandrum registered second highest number of fishermen in Kerala with 1.70 lakh.
2. THE REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Sathiadas and Panikkar (1988) in their study analysed that the prices and earnings of traditional fishing units along Trivandrum coast, Kerala. The study covers catamarans with hooks and features, catamaran with gillnets and plank- built boat fitted with internal-combustion engine (OBM). Considering the catch and revenue of various seasons for these units, monsoon period (June–August) is found to be more productive and profitable.
Kurien, J., & T. R. Thankappan Achari. (1990) in their study revealed that overfishing is that the main reason for depleting fish varieties from the Kerala coast. The open-access nature of fishing, inappropriate use of technology and booming demand because the reasons for overfishing.
Aerthayil, (2000) The economy of fishing among the standard fisherfolk of Kerala is predicated on three operations like harvesting or catching of the fish, the processing of fish and also the marketing of fish. The catching of the fish relies on the technology used for fishing furthermore because the relationships between the all people who are involved in production.
Sunil. S Ail et.al. (2014) in their paper opined that sustainable management of fisheries lies with the government’s authority and laid out rules and regulations. Better implementation of management strategies requires reliable manpower and effective institutional setup
Jayakumar et.al. (2019) in their study found out that state average plastic litter index for Kerala coast is 1.66 number of plastic pieces per square metre and 10.31grams of plastic litter per square metre. Total number of plastic litter along Kerala Coast is estimated at 17,00,32,429 pieces and total weight of plastic litter is estimated at 1057.45 tonnes.
3. OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the study are:
i) To understand the socio-economic factors that affect the sustainable fishing practices.
ii) To analyze the extent of use of traditional and unsustainable fishing methods in coastal areas.
iii) To examine the effectiveness of government initiative to prevent exploitation of marine resources, to make a cost-benefit analysis of sustainable fishing techniques.
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Both primary data and secondary data are used for collecting data.
i) Primary data was collected using
- direct interview method
- questionnaire method.
ii) Secondary data was collected using
- journals,
- articles
- government data
5. FINDINGS
St. Andrews beach is located 3 kilometres west from Kazhakootam Junction, near the games village. The fish availability here is very low. Apart from Monsoon season, the fish availability is less. There’s no necessary equipment for alarming emergency situations to the fishermen. They followed direct selling, i.e. no intermediaries. There’s presence of institutional credit availability. There’s an effective cooperative credit setup. They take credit mainly for fishing purposes. The availability of fish has shown a decline after the catastrophic Ockhi incident in 2017. The availability is low to an extent that they need to buy fish for their own needs. Fishermen here received little to no help from the Government. Recently, Govt. has excessively reduced subsidies allotted to them. A pension of rupees 1200/ fishermen were allotted by the Govt. which responded as insufficient. As it accounts for only Rs 40/day. The fuel quota per boat reduced from 112-115 litres to 50-80 litres.
Even though Govt. proclaimed many aids and welfare policies, it doesn’t reach the needy. Though life insurance is compulsory, it doesn’t cover health. Many participated in the flood rescue missions and some boats were damaged during the mission. Despite their efforts they weren’t rewarded properly. Funds weren’t allocated for repairing the damaged boats.
Valiyathura is situated 6 kilometres west from Trivandrum, with a population of 1200, in which majority follow fishing practice. Unlike St. Andrews, the percentage of fisherwomen present in the fishing practice constitutes 35% of total female population. They are technically sounder than St. Andrews. They use wide variety of boats made of ‘Chalathadi’ and ‘Karamvadi’. They also mechanized boats with GPS connectivity. The local people complained about the unscientific installation of stones called ‘pullimutt’ on shores. This has led to serious mishaps in the sea’s natural composition. Health insurance is provided to the fishermen through MATYSAFED. The region is marked by better living condition in all aspect.
Fishing techniques used in all three sites are commercial fishing methods. Apart from Valiyathura, the rest of the sites face shortage of fish for a large portion of the year. The respondents from Valiyathura said that there’s a significant decrease in the number of fish, as well as fish variety. The unscientific installation of “pullimutt” to prevent violent waves from attacking shores has created problems in the undercurrent in the Valiyathura sea, which is said to be the reason for massive sea attack on Shanghumugham beach. St. Andrews beach is filled with plastic wastes, most of which are bottles and single use plastics. The wastes from nearby areas are deposited into the sea. The sea has started taking over the shore in the St. Andrews beach.
The Ockhi cyclone had devastating effects in Trivandrum. The cyclone permanently changed the Shanghumugham beach by capturing a part of it. It also had a deep impact on the aquatic biodiversity in the coastline of Trivandrum. The worst affected of Ockhi was Shanghumugham. The amount of fish significantly came down after the Ockhi strike and there are still people in these areas who haven’t been given any sort of compensation.
Almost all of the fishermen are into this business as a part of their custom rather than of their own choice. This could be the reason for the use of outdated tools for catching fish. Most of the fishermen in all three regions are either unaware or unable to use sustainable fishing techniques. These techniques are of high cost with respect to what they earn and requires great amount of training to master. The adoption of these techniques will have an initial effect, mainly there will be restrictions in the number of fishes catching per day, which will in turn reduce the income of the fishermen. Though there were promises, the government hasn’t taken any serious steps towards implementing these methods, apart from trawl ban. Which again the defaulters aren’t given strict punishments, prompting others to violate the ban. All these have been a contributing factor in limiting the adoption of sustainable fishing in Trivandrum Corporation.
6. SUGGESTIONS
● As explained above, the fisherfolk are not willing to adopt the sustainable fishing techniques due to various concerns. The lack of awareness also attribute to this, by providing necessary information we can overcome this hurdle.
● The Government should provide incentives to the fishermen to shift towards sustainable fishing practices by giving them subsidies etc. and imposing taxes that poses a threat to aquatic biodiversity. The availability of equipment at a cheaper cost will help in adopting these methods.
● Kerala has its own success stories of sustainable fishing in Ashtamudi lake. The lake was infamous for “Bush park fishing”, which has caused rampant exploitation and near extinction of clams from the estuary. The local people took the initiative and banned fishing in estuary during breeding season. A similar approach can be implemented in the selected areas as well.
● Incorporating international agencies working on sustainable fishing like ‘Marine steward council’ will help in implementing these techniques. They can provide us with necessary technical and financial help.
● Banning the use of single use plastics in the beaches and creating a proper garbage disposal system for households near the coast. This will prevent the disposal of garbage into the sea.
7. CONCLUSION
The study focused on analysing the extent of scope of sustainable fishing in Trivandrum Corporation. Trivandrum Corporation has the longest coastline out of the entire local bodies in Kerala. The commercial fishing methods, it is practised widely all over India, has created adverse effects on the aquatic ecosystem. This has caused imbalances in the aquatic biodiversity. A part of the blame goes to the garbage disposed into the sea by the nearby households and firms. The extinction of various fish variety is due to these unsustainable practices has raised the need for a new system for fishing, which ensures fish stocks and environmental impacts. There are several methods of sustainable fishing which can be implemented but the cost incurred in this high compared to what fishermen earns. The study was conducted in Valiyathura, Shanghumugham and St. Andrews beach in Trivandrum Corporation. Fishermen in these region are traditional fishermen and all of them use mechanised fishing techniques. are most of the fishing families are either unaware of the sustainable fishing method practices or are not keen on adopting those techniques due to the expensive cost. The govt. measures were effective in the marketing level as most of the fish markets have been hygienic but when it comes to the actual catching process it has been a failure as most of the fishermen still use traditional or commercial fishing techniques.
There is need for government intervention to implement sustainable fishing practices. There should be a grassroot level understanding about the requirement of sustainable fishing. The coastline of these areas are littered by plastic, people also dump wastes into the sea. So, there should be a proper garbage disposal system. Authorities could take references from places where sustainable fishing has been successfully practised. We are in the verge of a crisis that could affect more than a million people. The exploitation of aquatic resources has led to their extinction. The disappearance of fish hasn’t been taken as a serious issue by the authorities and fishermen are unaware of the problems associated by it. The time has come to take necessary action before its too late.
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kurien, J., & T. R. Thankappan Achari. (1990). Overfishing along Kerala Coast: Causes and Consequences. Economic and Political Weekly, 25(35/36), 2011-2018
Sathiadhas, R., and Panikkar, K.K.P., Socio Economic of Small Scale Fishermen with Emphasis on Cogs and Earnings of Traditional Fishing Units along Trivandrum Coast, Kerala case study, Seafood Export Journal, 9(19 & 20): l988, pp.21-26.
Aerthayil, M. (2000) Chapter II: The background of Kerala. In: Fishworker’s Movement in Kerala (1977-1994)- The Role of Non-Party Political organisations in Social Transformation in India. New Delhi, Indian Social Institute. p 13-21
Jayakumar et.al. (2019), Plastic Litter Study Post Index, Thanal, Trivandrum
Thomas, J.V. & Kurup, B.M.. (2004). Padal fishing - a unique fishing method in the Ashtamudi Estuary of Kerala (south India).
Sunil S Ail, J Jayashankar, M Krishnan, Asha Landge, & Latha Shenoy (2017), Towards attaining sustainable fishing operations in Kerala, Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences Vol 46 (03)
