Mainstreaming marine biodiversity conservation within fishery.
| Project title | Mainstreaming marine biodiversity conservation within fishery. |
| Implementing Institutions | Centre for Economic and Social Studies (An ICSSR Institute under the MoHR, Goverment of India) Nizamiah Observatory Campus Begumpet P O Hyderabad 500016 INDIA |
| Country(ies) | India |
| Abstract | India is endowed with rich marine biodiversity that benefit millions of people by providing livelihoods, food and nutritional security. But, many marine species have become endangered and are on the brink of biological extinction due to overfishing and increasing by-catch. There is a need to build capacity to conserve marine biodiversity within fishery by regulating by-catch and over fishing. This project aims to build data and knowledge base for capacity building through networking among fishers, research institutions and policymakers. The project will be implemented in Andhra Pradesh State. |
| Project Description | This project focuses on the multi species marine fisheries of Andhra Pradesh State, located in the east coast of India. It is a highly diversifide fishery in terms of species composition, fishing techniques and local knowledge. A recent study conducted at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies shows that 14.41 percent of the total marine harvest (544935 tones) of the state is in the form of by-catch, which constitute a cost to the society in terms of future biomass loss due to juvenile catch and fishing efforts. The total loss works out to 22.71 billion rupees per year for the state in terms of present and future biomass loss with high implications on marine biodiversity. In this context, It is important to regulate by-catch and discards to minimise the adverse impact on marine biodiversity and ecosystems. It is necessary to generate information, knowledge and data at sub-regional level with involvement of primary stakeholders like fishers, fishery related governance and research institutions at the national and regional levels to the issue. Therefore, we aim to build sub regional and national net working among research institutions and universities. In addition, We also plan to develop collaboration with maritime countries like Norway to learn lessons from best fishing practices and policies. The project has a clear intention to continue for a longer period by establishing an exclusive division for fisheries and marine biodiversity at the centre for economic and social studies. |
| Project Objectives and expected Achievables | The goal of the project is to build capacity for mainstreaming biodiversity conservation within marine fisheries sector by influencing fishers' behaviour through a long term capacity building programme to reduce by-catch and over fishing. Data base creation, research, training programmes at sub regional level for fishers and fishery governance institutions are the main activities. The specific objectives are as follows. a) To create a data base with respect to fishing practices and fishers traditional knowledge with respect to marine biodiversity conservation. b) To create data base on the linkage between marine ecosystem services and fishers quality of life c) To build a formal networking among national and international level institutions and universities to mainstream biodiversity conservation in fisheries through exchange of data, knowledge and by imparting training and awareness programmes. The progress of these activities can be measured yearly in terms of the number of activities and persons involved that include number of fishers participated, number of resource persons involved, number of internships for graduate students and young researchers etc. Second, project impact can be verify by assessing fishers willingness to adopt by-cath reduction technologies and attitudinal changes on compliance with mesh size regulations and other conservation measures like fishing holidays. Data and knowledge generation are verifiable since the project plan to create an exclusive website for this purpose. |
| Timeframe | > 3 years |
| Geographic Scale | Sub-national |
| Seeking Resources for: | Project implementation |
| Type of Resources/Support needed: | Financial |