El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an important driver of interannual variations in climate and ecosystem productivity in tropical regions. However, detailed information about this important phenomenon of the Indian Ocean is scarce. Consequently, the objective of this study is to improve understanding of the impact of warm event El Nino and cool event La Nina on annual tuna landings from the Indian Ocean from 1980 to 2010. In this study, maximum tuna landings were recorded during a weak El Nino year (1456054 t in 2006) and during a weak La Nina year (1243562 t in 2000), although the lowest tuna catch was followed during the strong El Nino year (1204119 t in 2009) and during a strong La Nina year (706546 t in 1988). Validation of predicted tuna landings and SST were showing a significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) was observed all the major tuna species except Southern Bluefin Tuna. Whereas the other relationships such as sea level pressure, Wind actions; Zonal Wind (U), Meridonial Wind (V), and Scalar Wind (W) are less well-defined. In contrast with principal component analysis we find that Principal Components 1 explains 75.5% of the total variance and suggest that sea surface temperature plays a major role in determining tuna availability in the region especially during warm event El Nino years; landings in Indian Ocean tend to be optimum SST 25 to 26°C in ENSO event. Our results confirm the ENSO impact on climate, tuna abundance and production in the Indian Ocean. However, among the oceanic variables SST explained the highest deviance in generalized additive models and therefore considered the best habitat predictor in the Indian Ocean followed by sea level pressure and Winds (U, V, W).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-591) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The present study assessed the levels of literacy, health, income and livelihood security of fisher households across different fisheries sectors in Kerala. Primary data collected across 567 households during January to December, 2011were used for the study. The general trend in Kerala shows that majority of the fisherfolk were of the age group 36-55, with a small family norm and high literacy rate. The marine capture sector has the highest annual income in comparison with other sectors but registered higher indebtedness. While the highest income from non-fishery activity was from labour followed by business, other sectors and agriculture. The study revealed that the fishers spend their major share of income towards food expenditure. Inspite of the income from various sources, majority of the households are swamped with debts which make them to rely on private money lenders for sustaining their living standards. The study is a cross sectoral analysis of the fisher households in Kerala and provides a base for implementing developmental plans for the betterment of the fishing community.

Climate change is a global challenge today, with its impacts felt worldwide. The coastal regions around globe are more prone to the impacts of climate change than the inlands, fishing being one of the primary occupations of the coast, the fishermen community is the most vulnerable group to be affected by the climate change. Even with extensive scientific research in this arena there is a lacuna in finding a panacea to this existing problem. The objective of this study is to determine the scope of developing village level adaptation and mitigation plan for the community through a comprehensive analysis of the community perception on climate change impacts, vulnerability and existing adaptation mitigation strategies. In the chosen study villages of Ochanthuruth and Narakkal of Ernakulam district, the impact of climate change was felt on both resource and resource users based on a perception analysis made using comprehensive interview schedule administered across 300 households. The study revealed that the actual science and consequences of climate change impacts in a long run are not perceived well. The work suggests that concerted efforts in bringing about resilient community can be achieved through global understanding of the issue and coming up with area specific solutions with the inclusion of the much forgotten social factor-the stakeholders..

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