Enhancing Regional Climate Resilience of Indian Fisheries Through Wetland Restoration and Scientific Fish Farming

Development of climatic resilient strategies even at regional levels is of necessity to cope up with climatic change impacts. This paper highlights wetland restoration along with incorporation of scientific fish farming at village level as a significant climatic resilient strategy. Geospatial techniques have been considered as tool for degraded regional wetland resource mapping and eco management plan development. A comprehensive approach by integrating qualitative as well as quantitative assessment of wetland is projected through this work. Scientific bodies are recognized to offer consultancy and monitoring throughout the project phases. Participatory programs with retaining the privileges of traditional local groups over the regional wetlands areenvisaged as project components. Scope of improved capture fisheries technique towards ensuring food and nutrition security, along with role of scientific bodies in assisting selection and implementation of proper aquaculture techniques are also mentioned. Utilization of equipments such as ‘aquatic weed harvesters’instead of manual removal of aquatic weeds is proposed. Conversion of the harvested aquatic vegetation into climate resilient products such as biochar, biofuels and value added products are anticipated as sustainable options. The proposed concept model thus includes regional level wetland resource mapping and restoration, coupled with implementation of scientific fish farming as per the guidelines and consultation of scientific bodies. Keywords: Aquaculture, climate resilience, remote sensing, wetland restoration

ClimFish NICRA Newsletter Vol.1

Govt. of India has accorded high priority on research and development to cope with climate change in agricultural sector. The Prime Minister’s National Action Plan has identified agriculture as one of eight national missions. The project so far has benefitted several stakeholders across the nation. National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) is a network project of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) aimed at enhancing resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change

Climate change impact on the feeding habits of Indian mackerel observed along the Kerala coast

While most food and feeding research in fisheries emphasize the feeding habits and diet components of the fish, the aim of the present work was to assess any change in the diet composition of Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816) and identify the role of climate change in effecting it. Non-parametric statistical technique, the Generalized Additive Model (GAMs) was used for modeling the causal link of diet changes in relation to climate change using mgcv package of R software. Monthly Index of Relative Importance (IRI) was calculated for 36 months from January 2013 to December 2015 and major prey items in the diet were identified. Climatic variables - Sea Surface Temperature (SST), precipitation (Pr), Chlorophyll a (Chl a), salinity and Ekman transport or coastal upwelling index (CUI)) pertaining to the study area were extracted for the period. Length-wise IRI was compared to check the existing patterns in the feeding habits of the fish. The dominant prey items observed in the gut of Indian mackerel during the study period were diatoms ( Fragillaria sp., Nitzchia sp., Thalassiothrix sp., Thalassiosira sp. and Coscinodiscus sp.), dinoflagellates (Ceratium sp., Ornothocercus sp., Dinophysis sp. and Prorocentrum sp.), copepods (Calanoida, Cyclopoida and Harpacticoida), decapods (Acetes) and tintinnids (Tintinnopsis sp., Codenellopsis sp. and Flavella sp). GAM models were fitted with monthly IRI of the major prey items (copepods, diatoms, dinoflagellates, Acetes and tintinnids) in the gut and climatic variables. Model selection was done in terms of sharpening the relation between the predictors and the response variable using Akaike information criterion, R-squared and F-statistics. GAM model results revealed that occurrence of prey items in the diet of Indian mackerel were influenced by environmental variables. An increase in the relative importance of dinoflagellates, Acetes and tintintids in the diet over the historic period was observed. The study also revealed a shift in the diet composition of younger fishes. The results of the current study provide a more in-depth assessment of the nonlinear relationship between climatic variables and diet composition of Indian mackerel

Introduction to climate change

Introduction to climate chang

ClimFish NICRA Newsletter Vol.3

Catch and vulnerability forecast of key commercial marine fish species using climatic projec-tion data is of high na-tional significance. The mounting climatic pressures such as Ockhi and Gaja, emphatically point out the need for Development of Cli- mate Resilient Fishing Vil-lages and Technologies

Seaweed Farming as a Climate Resilient Strategy for Indian Coastal Waters

In the context of climate change and its impacts on global as well as regional levels, it is of necessity to develop effective climate resilient strategies. This paper focuses on the scope of seaweed farming along Indian coastal waters as a climate resilient strategy. Biofuels from various biomass feedstocks serves as an alternative energy production route leading to reduced dependency on fossil fuels and is widely accepted strategy to combat global warming. The prospects of seaweed as a feedstock for biofuel production are reviewed through this paper. Carbon sequestration ability of seaweed makes its farming an option to combat ocean acidification and we envisage further bulk conversion of the substrate into stable bio char which offers additional long term soil C sequestration means. Improved water as well as nutrient holding capacity of biochar makes it feasible to apply in agricultural lands that are affected with low precipitation induced by climate change. Scope of seaweed bio char for agricultural resilience is further explored in this study. Climate change had negatively affected the rural livelihoods of fishermen community in several coastal villages. Seaweed farming, its harvest and processing requires manpower and hence poses as an opportunity to enhance the rural livelihoods, which is also discussed through this paper. The suitability of Indian coastal water s f or seaweed farming is also reviewed. The present study thus calls the attention towards developing seaweed farming as a climate resilient strategy which has multiple benefits of usage as alternative energy feedstock, as an option to combat ocean acidification, as a mitigation method for agricultural adversities and also as a means to improve coastal livelihoods

Marine climate and fisheries scenario of Kerala Climcard-3

Marine climate and fisheries scenario of Kerala Climcard-

Adaptations to Climate Change Impacts on Coastal Fisheries and Aquaculture

Adaptations to Climate Change Impacts on Coastal Fisheries and Aquacultur

Preliminary assessment, restoration and aquaculture support for a small wetland

In line with the strategy of regional wetland datasets integration to a common national digital platform, map of small wetlands less than 2.2 ha in Kochi Taluk was prepared. A representative small wetland at Edakochi village of Kerala was selected through maps and field visits for preliminary assessment and restoration. Shuttle Radar Topography Mission’s Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was used to assess the general elevation, slope and flow accumulation pattern of the selected wetland along with assessment of the catchment area and drainage pattern. Restoration works of the selected wetland was carried out vis-a-vis side bund strengthening and sluice gate fortification. The comparative analysis of water quality assessment of wetland before and after restoration revealed improvement in water quality parameters as well as increase in water level. The Dissolved Oxygen level of the aquatic system was found to have increased substantially along with other several favourable changes in water parameters due to the restoration activities. The restored wetland at Edakochi was further utilised for multispecies farming of prawns, Pearl spot, Milk fish and Grey mullet and the harvest indicated sustainable yield. Aquaculture practice in wetlands with real time scientific advisories could ensure continuous data generation and village level climate resilience

ICAR Sponsored Winter School on Climate change impacts and resilient options for Indian marine fisheries

ICAR Sponsored Winter School on Climate change impacts and resilient options for Indian marine fisherie