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Marine fishing in India, particularly on the East Coast, is facing a crisis of resource depletion caused by a mix of over-exploitation and destructive practices and gear. For management of tropical multi-species fisheries a better understanding of the processes that affect species assemblages is required in addition to the social and economic issues that also play a major role in governing the exploitation of fisheries in these area. Failure to recognise the institutional arrangements under which most artisanal fisheries operate often leads to non-compliance of externally imposed regulations.
This project seeks to contribute to sustainable management of marine fisheries by strengthening initiatives in fisheries co-management. It seeks to answer specific questions about resource utilisation among artisanal fishers and help build upon earlier work in organising meetings between representatives of artisanal fishers and the fisheries department. This research has direct relevance to the artisanal fishing communities located on the Coromandel coast. The project area comprises 15 fishing settlements and three jetties along the largely sandy coast between Marakannam in Villupuram District and the deltaic areas of the Cauvery river in the region of Killai, at the southern end of Cuddalore District and encompasses the Union Territory of Pondicherry.
1. Creation of a scientific baseline on :
i. Fishing capacities covering seasonal patterns in use of fishing groups and gear utilisation.
ii. Credit and subsidy mechanisms in the formal and in-formal sector.
iii. Marketing linkages and processes for both domestic and export markets.
2. To organise consultative meetings on co-management between artisanal fishers mechanised fishers and representatives of fisheries department and civil society.
3.To feed into general fisheries management programs and policy recommendations pertaining to India as well as the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry through publications in popular press and relevant scientific journals.
4. To understand the effect of fish aggregating devices (FAD) on the local fish catch.
Completed.
• 62 villages were surveyed across Pondicherry, and the Villupuram and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu. Information was collected on resource status, craft and gear utilization, market dynamics and credit mechanisms. These surveys built upon and continued previous work on marine artisanal fisheries
• Surveys at three major landing sites provided information on gear utilization and fishing effort.
• Chart plotters were installed on 8 trawlers/vallams which provided information on overlap of fishing effort and distances travelled out to sea.
• A total of 255 fisherfolk were interviewed and 17 banks and each district/state fisheries office were visited for information on credit and subsidies availed.
• Market linkages were determined through interviews and observations with 239 women fish vendors, 23 local traders and 17 inter state traders.
• An artificial reef resembling that of a coral reef system was installed at approximately 6 km out to sea and a depth of 23 m.
• Co-management meetings were held at the village, district and state levels to present and discuss findings. These included meetings between representatives of the traditional Panchayats and the fisheries department. The meetings discussed the role the community and the department can play in regulation of certain activities known to be damaging to the fisheries resource base. These meetings served as a first step towards a co-management framework for artisanal fisheries in the project area.