Protections for Small-Scale Fisheries in India: A Study of India’s Monsoon Fishing Ban

Gunakar, Surathkal; Jadhav, Adam; Bhatta, Ramachandra

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-55074-9_14

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Further challenges come from the large number of unregulated and unlicensed fishing boats that operate in India's large‐scale and small‐scale fisheries (Pramod, 2010). While India has had great success with compliance to the closed season during the 60‐day monsoon ban, wherein mechanized boats such as trawlers are prohibited from fishing, this has not been the case with most of their other marine fisheries regulations (Gunakar, Jadhav, & Bhatta, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Catch and trade bans for seahorses can be negated by non‐selective fisheries

Vaidyanathan

Zhang

Ramkumar

et al. 2020

Aquatic Conservation

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All seahorse species (genus Hippocampus) are listed under Schedule I of India's Wild Life Protection Act, making all capture and trade of seahorses illegal. In the more than 15 years since the ban, little work has been done to assess its effects on seahorse conservation. Between 2015 and 2017, fisheries and trade surveys were conducted along the south‐east coast of India, in the state of Tamil Nadu, historically known to be a hub for seahorse catches and trade. Seahorses were primarily landed as bycatch, although in greater quantities by traditional drag nets than as trawl bycatch. Total annual catches were estimated between 4.98 million and 13.64 million seahorses, 87% of which were caught by active non‐selective gear. Generalized additive models revealed that seahorse catch per unit effort had non‐linear relations with depth and latitude, and were higher in biogenic habitats, with active, bottom‐used, and non‐selective gears (e.g. trawls). The illegal nature of the trade in seahorses hampered an understanding of trade routes and trade volumes. Catch estimates indicated that 11.21–30.31 tonnes of seahorses probably entered trade, yet interviews with traders only documented trade of about 1.6 tonnes. Fishers reported a decreasing availability of seahorses. Since most seahorses come from bycatch in persistent fisheries that are not directly affected by the ban on seahorse capture, this decline is likely to represent a population decline. A fishery and trade ban for incidentally caught species, particularly in a poorly regulated fishery, appears to add little conservation value. There needs to be a shift in the management approach, moving from a ban towards spatial and temporal restrictions, and toward enforcing existing fishery regulations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While India has had great success with compliance to the closed season during the 60-day monsoon ban, wherein mechanized boats such as trawlers are prohibited from fishing, this has not been the case with most of their other marine fisheries regulations (Gunakar, Jadhav, & Bhatta, 2017).…”

Section: Changes In Number Of Seahorse Buyersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catch and trade bans for seahorses can be negated by non‐selective fisheries

Vaidyanathan

Zhang

Ramkumar

et al. 2020

Aquatic Conservation

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“…It is a periodic restriction imposed every year to enable fish spawning during the monsoon. This also increased the number of boats parked at the harbor areas [61,62]. For instance, the rise in parked vessels at the Veraval (18 June 2020, Figure 4g) is also due to this reason.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Fisheries Sector: A Case Study from Three Harbors in Western India

et al. 2021

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The COVID-19 related lockdowns have brought the planet to a standstill. It has severely shrunk the global economy in the year 2020, including India. The blue economy and especially the small-scale fisheries sector in India have dwindled due to disruptions in the fish catch, market, and supply chain. This research presents the applicability of satellite data to monitor the impact of COVID-19 related lockdown on the Indian fisheries sector. Three harbors namely Mangrol, Veraval, and Vankbara situated on the north-western coast of India were selected in this study based on characteristics like harbor’s age, administrative control, and availability of cloud-free satellite images. To analyze the impact of COVID in the fisheries sector, we utilized high-resolution PlanetScope data for monitoring and comparison of “area under fishing boats” during the pre-lockdown, lockdown, and post-lockdown phases. A support vector machine (SVM) classification algorithm was used to identify the area under the boats. The classification results were complemented with socio-economic data and ground-level information for understanding the impact of the pandemic on the three sites. During the peak of the lockdown, it was found that the “area under fishing boats” near the docks and those parked on the land area increased by 483%, 189%, and 826% at Mangrol, Veraval, and Vanakbara harbor, respectively. After phase-I of lockdown, the number of parked vessels decreased, yet those already moved out to the land area were not returned until the south-west monsoon was over. A quarter of the annual production is estimated to be lost at the three harbors due to lockdown. Our last observation (September 2020) result shows that regular fishing activity has already been re-established in all three locations. PlanetScope data with daily revisit time has a higher potential to be used in the future and can help policymakers in making informed decisions vis-à-vis the fishing industry during an emergency situation like COVID-19.

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Unsustainable, Imperial Dreams: What India’s Blue Economy Portends for “Life Below Water”

Jadhav

2023

Sustainable Development Goals Series

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Protections for Small-Scale Fisheries in India: A Study of India’s Monsoon Fishing Ban

Cited by 5 publications

References 12 publications

Catch and trade bans for seahorses can be negated by non‐selective fisheries

Catch and trade bans for seahorses can be negated by non‐selective fisheries

Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on the Fisheries Sector: A Case Study from Three Harbors in Western India

Unsustainable, Imperial Dreams: What India’s Blue Economy Portends for “Life Below Water”

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