7 research outputs found
Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Certification - Moving Indian Aquaculture towards sustainable
Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Certification - Moving Indian Aquaculture towards sustainabl
Towards an ecosystem approach to fisheries management in India - case study of the Ashtamudi Lake yellow-foot clam fishery
Conserving marine resources and managing fisheries have been put in an ecosystem perspective
in many parts of the world for some time now. The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF)
and its many variants as enunciated by the FAO differs from most fisheries or environmental
policies, which tend to focus on single species or habitats, in that the interconnectedness of
ecological, social, and economic parameters for developing local and regional management
of an ecosystem is explicitly recognized. Despite the soundness of the concept of EAF, there
are only a few successful examples of well managed fisheries using the approach. Even when
EAF is ecologically and institutionally attainable, multiple problems can arise from competing
interests among stakeholders, undeveloped or inappropriate governance structures, poor
science, or lack of political will. The situation is perhaps more complex in the tropics due to
the large number of co-occurring species, gears and fishers. In the developing world, this is
compounded by the lack of a governance structure, and in places where they do exist, the lack
of its implementation
Developments in progressing India's marine fisheries towards Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification
Ecolabelling is a market-based tool to promote
the sustainable use of natural resources. Ecolabels
are seals of approval given to products that are
deemed to have fewer impacts on the environment
than functionally or competitively similar products.
The ecolabel itself is a tag or label placed on a
product that certifies that the product was produced
in an environmentally friendly way. The label
provides information at the point of sale that links
the product to the state of the resource and/or its
related management regime. Sitting behind the
label is a certification process. A range of
ecolabelling and certification schemes exists in the
fisheries sector, with each scheme having its own
criteria, assessment processes, levels of
transparency and sponsors. One of the first
scientifically developed ecolabelling schemes, the
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) was set up by the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Unilever in 1997,
but has been independent of them for past many
years. The MSC is arguably the most comprehensive
fisheries certification scheme in that it covers a
range of species and deals with all aspects of the
management of a fishery
Charting a Path Towards Sustainable Seafood Resources in India: The Role of Voluntary Sustainable Standards
The rapid development and growth of the fisheries sector in India over
the last couple of years has led to the sector playing an increasingly important
role in the countryтАЩs economy. Fisheries contribute to IndiaтАЩs economy
through increased employment, gross domestic product (GDP) and
improved food security. The sector is, however, now faced with challenges
to continued sustainability amidst concerns about overfishing, depleted
stocks and illegal unreported unregulated fishing in the wild catch sector
Ashtamudi clams fetch more
Eco-labelling through sustainable fishing practices
results in premium prices and ecological gains.
Short-neck clam fisheries of Ashtamudi garnered
an eco-label from the Marine Stewardship Council
(MSC), a first in India. Clams function as bio-filters
for Ashtamudi. Understanding the value chain and a
comparison between pre and post management of the
fishery points to the advantages of certification
Elasmobranch conservation, challenges and management strategy in India: recommendations from a national consultative meeting
Historically, India has been projected as one of the major elasmobranch fishing nations in the world. However, management and conservation efforts are not commensurate with this trend. Along with the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, several generic conservation measures are in place at the regional/local level. But India is still a long way from meeting global conservation commitments. We present here the status of elasmobranch management and conservation in India, with the specific objec-tive of identifying the gaps in the existing set-up. We also present recommendations based on a national consultative workshop held at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, in February 2020. We recommend the implementation of a National Plan of Action (NPOA-Sharks) and more in-clusive governance and policymaking for elasmobranch conservation in India
Ashtamudi Clam Fishery - An example of Sustainable Management and Biodiversity Conservation
Short-neck clams oryeiiow-foot clams (Paphiamalabarica) in Ashtam udi Lake are fished
by hand rake, diving and handpicking by 1,000-1,500 fishers. Commercial fishing for clams
started about 30 years ago - prior to that there had been little demand for them outside the
immediate local area where the clams have been eaten for generations. The growth of the
commercial fishery was fuelled by demand from export markets and the interest of local fish
processors in cooking, freezing and exporting the clam meat to customers in Vietnam, Thailand
and Malaysia in the 1980s and 1990s