Recent detailed analysis by leading
fisheries researchers confirms that the phenomenon of
"fishing down the web"- a key indicator of over-extraction
in fishery- is well underway throughout the coastal waters
of India.
This, in combination with observed declines in economically
important species, increases in fishing effort required
per unit of catch and the growing impoverishment of the
fishing community are warning signs for marine fisheries
in India.
In addition to the hard statistics, there is a significant
and growing body of anecdotal evidence gathered from
communities located all along the Indian coast/ine, where
fishers are experiencing falling catches, significant
changes in species size and composition, the necessity for
longer fishing trips and hence greater investment to catch
fewer fish, and, as a cumulative result, growing poverty,
particularly among the non-mechanised sector.
If this situation is not rectified, an estimated 15 million
people dependent on marine fisheries either directly or
indirectly, will be adversely affected. India's fish exports
generated $2.8 billion in 2010-11, and official targets are
to raise this to 6 billion by 2015.
A significant source of foreign exchange via exports and
domestic income generation will also be jeopardised by a
fisheries collapse; and large numbers currently employed
in the fisheries marketing and export chain will be rendered
jobless.
Overcapacity (too many fishing boats) leading to overfishing,
an over-reliance on destructive fishing techniques
such as bottom trawling, and continued government
subsidies for mechanised fisheries to the detriment of
the more sustainable, employment generating nonmechanised
sector (motorised and non-motorised) are the
main causes of the current over-exploitation. This situation
has of course been worsened by rampant pollution,
destruction of breeding grounds such as mangroves and
estuarine areas, hot water discharge from thermal power
plants, industrial effluents, sewage from major urban
centres and coastal over development.
Despite numerous studies from India's premier fisheries
research institutions and scientists warning of signs of
collapse, the central and state governments have either
failed to take action, or have been unable to rectify the
situation. This is often attributed to the complex, openaccess
nature of India's fisheries, and the fact that fisheries
in territorial waters (Le. 12 nm) lies in the jurisdiction
of respective coastal states. While this is partly true,
the bigger underlying issue, however, is that achieving
sustainability in marine fisheries has never been a priority
for most state governments, and is certainly not a priority
for the central government.
The results of a failure to act are being borne by marine
ecosystems, which are systematically being degraded,
and over 15 million Indians, who depend on healthy and
productive seas for their sustenance. However, it is not too
late to turn the tide.
Marine fisheries in India clearly have a significant role to
play and become a stronger engine for rural growth and
social development in coastal India. For this to happen,
a program of reforms, carefully implemented over an
extended period of time at both national and state levels,
must address core institutional, ecological and fisheries
management issues.
This report builds on existing arguments and makes a strong
case for a range of such measures to be implemented at
the earliest in order to stave off a fisheries collapse, and
set India's fisheries on a path to sustainability.
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Further ReadingYou can view the full report by clicking here. |
