It's a case of too many fishermen chasing too few fish. Marine ecology experts blame rising fuel prices, mechanised fishing and global warming for the troubles in the fishing sector. M A Siraj delves into deeper waters to understand the scenario.
Global trends suggest that fishing is becoming unsustainable owing to depletion in stock. Seventy per cent of the marine production in India is obtained from the 50-metre-depth zone; the current yield from along 8,100 km of the Indian coastline is assessed to be at its optimum with no scope for any further increase. There has been a huge increase in the fishing effort, but the area of operation has not expanded beyond the 50-metre depth resulting in reduced catch per unit effort.
This has also spawned conflicts between artisanal fishermen and the mechanised sector, thereby creating disharmony among fishermen.
Global warming is impacting the marine environment in a big way. It occupies the concern of marine biologists just as it does the climatologists.
According to Pune-based environmental activist Neeraj Jain, the world is warmer by about 0.8 degree Celsius than the pre-industrial time.
The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) expects that the global average temperature will rise from 1.8 to 4.0 degree Celsius this century. Jain, who also heads the environment NGO Lokayat, says it has potentially serious consequences for the marine environment.
Its impact is being seen in the melting of glaciers, permafrost, sea ice, etc. The total surface area of glaciers has declined by 50 per cent since the end of the 19th century. The estimated sea level rise towards the end of the current century will be about 50 cm. It is well known that oceans serve as a carbon sink.
Global warming would affect the ocean carbon cycle as the solubility of carbon dioxide will decrease with the rise in sea temperature.
A warmer sea, besides changing the oceanic circulations, will also alter the nutrient supply with consequent changes in the marine food webs, and the fish and fisheries of the oceans.
The equatorial central Indian Ocean has become warmer by 1.5ºC in the decades since 1950s, interfering with monsoon winds and the rainfall.
Fuel hikes
A very definite change is also visible on India's fishing scene. This is primarily because of a hike in fuel cost and secondarily due to overfishing of the coastal waters which in turn increases the effort in catching fish. It is evident from the operational cost for every voyage for fishing going up every time the fuel price is hiked.
According to Kochi-based industrial marine biologist P K Abdul Azis, former vice chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology and the Aligarh Muslim University, "When fuel prices go up, fish prices also invariably go up. Eighty eight per cent of the fishermen change their fishing behaviour.
They tend to fish in the inshore regions and save on the fuel. Owners of many mechanised fishing trawlers abandon fishing and stay on shore." According to him, there are 90 lakh fisher folk families in India and every hike in fuel price creates great distress among them.
Artisanal fishermen who own boats with small outboard engines are the biggest sufferers. It is estimated that 10-20 per cent of the gross income goes towards the fuel cost, and the owners try to reduce the crew to fight the situation.
These layoffs add to the distress of these families. Idle fishing boats cause unemployment and starvation in around 3,200 fishing villages along the coast. Sixty one per cent of the fishing families fall within the BPL sector.
Azis finds merit in the theory that too many fishermen are chasing too few fish, whether in global waters or along the Indian coastline. He says, "The Indian fisheries sector has seen phenomenal modernisation since the 1950s, leading to record production of marine resources (The contribution of fisheries sector to national GDP has risen from US $ 1.43 billion in 2002-03 to US $ 3.5 billion in 2011-12 and the forecast for 2012-13 is $ 4.5 billion).
Intensive motorisation of traditional crafts revolutionised the way fish and shrimp resources were captured, leading to overfishing of certain species during certain years. Juveniles and species in spawning stage were indiscriminately captured using extremely fine meshed nets affecting recruitment of new generation fish and prawns to the stock."
Corrective steps
He however appreciates the government's effort in reversing the damage. The marine Fishing Regulation Act 1980 banned fishing and trawling during the monsoon season to facilitate the recruitment of young ones into the adult stock.
Since 1999, most coastal states have introduced this ban. Azis hopes that stricter licensing and optimum deployment of fishing units, would probably help in maintaining sustainable fisheries. That is of course the situation on the marine economy front. It is not merely the marine environment, man's predatory activities too have affected marine life around the Indian shores.
Several species of whales are being hunted to extinction. This has posed a serious threat to whale populations. The baleen whale, southern right whale, humpback whale, sei whale and fin whale are the more threatened species. According to Azis, in the Exclusive Economic Zone bordering the Indian coast, 17 species of marine mammals, consisting of six species of whales, nine of dolphins and one each of sea cow and porpoise have been sighted.
The humpback whale, the Indian humpback dolphin and the bottlenose dolphin fall under threatened category along the Indian coast. The International Whaling Commission and the Whale and Dolphin Society are in the forefront of conserving these mammals.
The Indian Ocean is a sanctuary for whales since 1979 under international agreements.Marine biologists are unanimous on scientific regulatory management of available marine resources and deployment of optimum number of fishing units for the sake of retaining the sustainability of fishing. Efforts are also needed to exploit the seas beyond 50 metres to maintain marine fisheries production in a sustainable manner.