Assessing Opportunities for Livelihood Enhancement and Diversification in Coastal Fishing Communities of Southern India

"The United Nations Team for Tsunami Recovery Support (UNTRS) based in Chennai,India, is facilitating the process of tsunami recovery in the region through specific interventions in strategic areas. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of United Nations (FAO) as a part of the UNTRS team aims to set clear directions to ensure sustainable livelihoods for fishers. It has a pro-poor focus. With the fisheries sector suffering from both over-capitalization and resource depletion, the livelihoods of poor fishers and fisherfolk communities have been badly hit, and the tsunami has aggravated their misery. While relief measures have helped, what's essential for the long term is to improve livelihood opportunities. They need to be enhanced and diversified. Many development interventions have been attempted. But what's needed is a viable people-centric approach that taps the strengths of coastal fisheries and draws on them. Hence this study on ""Assessing opportunities for livelihood enhancement and diversification in coastal fishing communities of southern India."" carried out by Integrated Coastal Management, Kakinada. The study covers tsunami-affected areas in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The study has analysed a number of inherent strategies of the fishers to enhance and diversify livelihoods, both past and present. It has come out with a planning framework for livelihoods enhancement and diversification. Stakeholders in fisheries can make use of the framework, validate its usefulness, and decide and further develop appropriate tool box. They may then spell out the support and co-operation necessary from other stakeholders.

New Approaches to Participation in Fisheries Research

This study was commissioned by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) and SIFAR (Support Unit for International Fisheries and Aquatic Research) on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research (ACFR). It is concerned with research in the context of fisheries development.The ACFR acknowledges that the fisheries sector is faced with serious social and environmental problems and that current approaches to research have their limitations. It is recognised that participatory approaches and methods potentially have a greater role to play in fisheries research. This study aims to explore that potential and to suggest how we might move forward. The main focus of the report is on experiences in developing countries because this is where much of the innovative work in participation in research is being carried out. However, it is acknowledged that there is also much to be learnt from developed world experience

Assessing the governability of capture fisheries in the Bay of Bengal - a conceptual enquiry

This paper contributes to the theory of interactive governance, which is one branch in the scientific discipline of governance studies, by exploring the application of the governability concept to the capture fisheries of the Bay of Bengal. It focuses on two aspects of governability: the definition of system boundaries, and the application of governability criteria. The focus with regard to the latter is on ‘representation’. Two possible definitions of a system-to-be-governed are explored: an ecological definition on the basis of Large Marine Ecosystems (LME), and a social definition based on the jurisdiction of non-governmental fisher councils. The conclusion is that the boundaries of governance systems for natural resource management are arbitrary, and various delineations have competing strengths and weaknesses. Although interactive governance theory provides useful insights for understanding the issues at hand, the operationalization of its conceptualization of governability is, however, hampered by ambiguity in the definition of criteria. Analysis suggests that ‘representation’ as an indicator of governability is most usefully interpreted as ‘level of attunement’ rather than simply as the mirroring of characteristics of the system-to-be-governed in the governing system

Climate change and fisheries: perspectives from small-scale fishing communities in India on measures to protect life and livelihood

Through consultations with key fisheries-based stakeholders in four States of India, this study attempts to assess perceptions of fishing communities about the impact of climate change on their lives and livelihoods. It also evaluates the traditional knowledge, institutions and practices of fishing communities that are relevant to climate-change preparedness. The study identifies adaptation and mitigation measures that may need to be adopted by fishing communities and the State in relation to climate change. Based on this overall analysis, the study proposes measures to protect the lives and livelihoods of small-scale fishing communities in the context of climate-change policies and programmes at different levels. This study will be useful for researchers, policymakers, students and anyone interested in climate change and its potential effects on the lives and livelihoods of small-scale fishing communities

Review of community-based ICM: best practices and lessons learned in the Bay of Bengal, South Asia

Conclusions and recommendations of the report were based upon eighteen case studies of community-based Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) in Bangladesh, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka. These include empowerment of coastal communities; failure of imposed fishery co-operatives; and the application of territorial use rights in fisheries(TURF)

Report of inception workshop on globalisation and seafood trade legislation: The impact on poverty in India

DFID’s Post Harvest Fisheries Research Programme seeks to develop strategies and management systems to improve post harvest utilisation of fish in ways that will make an impact on lives of poor producers, processors, traders and consumers. “Globalisation & Seafood Trade Legislation – The Impact On Poverty In India” is the title of a project funded by DFID under the Post Harvest Fisheries Research Programme (PHFRP). Prior to finalisation of the project proposal, the collaborators – the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), Catalyst Management Services (CMS) and South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS) – decided to meet with various possible stakeholders and key informants. An inception workshop was organised in Visakhapatnam, India, on 21 and 22 June 2001, of which this document is the record. The workshop started with a series of presentations including one on a related PHFRP project – “Changing Fish Utilisation and Its Impact on the Poor in India” by Integrated Marine Management Ltd (IMM). That was followed by identification of key issues. Against the background of these key issues, further short presentations were made (by selected workshop participants with relevant knowledge), based on which a shortlist of researchable issues was produced. Finally, it was agreed that no conclusive statements could be made on researchable issues and specific research sites for the fieldwork, given the limited information available. By end of October 2001, the research collaborators (SIFFS, CMS and NRI) will produce literature reviews to make full use of secondary information sources available to generate ideas about the key research issues and to avoid duplication of previous work. In addition, it was felt vital that fieldwork research activities should be co-ordinated and linked to the related PHFRP project “Changing Fish Utilisation and Its Impact on the Poor in India”. The key findings and recommendations from the scoping studies, conducted in the selected states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Orissa, should feed into the final formulation of research issues and sites, to ensure integration and linkages given the limited resources available. The workshop ended with agreement among project collaborators on the ways forward, especially with regard to the literature reviews and initial fieldwork, to be finalised by the end of October 2001): a) Report on the Workshop (CMS, with inputs from NRI and SIFFS); b) An overview of international seafood legislation (NRI); c) A literature review of globalisation and sustainable livelihoods, with particular reference to the fishery sector (NRI); d) An analysis of trends in Indian seafood exports and trends in major markets (NRI); e) A review of the 1997 EU import ban on shrimp exports from India (SIFFS); f) Indian actions and re-actions to external Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary regulations and legislation, including a history of fish inspection in recent times (SIFFS); g) A review of export supply chains in Andhra Pradesh (SIFFS); h) A review of export supply chains in Kerala (SIFFS); and i) A review of export supply chains in Orissa (CMS). On completion of these studies, further detailed fieldwork will be undertaken in three selected states, beginning in Andhra Pradesh, followed by fieldwork in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, Kerala

Report on final workshop on globalisation and seafood trade legislation: the effect on poverty in India. 23-24 January 2003, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India (NRI report no. 2721)

This report presents the proceedings and findings of a workshop held in the Green Park Hotel, Visakhapatnam from 23 to 24 January 2003. It was attended by participants (36 in all) representing a cross section of the fisheries industry from producer organisations, NGOs, government organisations and private companies involved in the fish export industry of India. (See appendix 1 ). The report outlines the results of the research project on "Globalisation and Seafood Trade Legislation – The Impact on Poverty in India" funded by the Post Harvest Fisheries Research Programme (PHFRP) of the Department for International Development (DFID). The workshop considered the status of the export industry in Kerala, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh and the effect that export legislation is having on livelihoods of the poor in these three states. The discussion of the issues raised is given in the main body of the report (section 2) with summaries of the presentations in the Appendices 3- 5

Justice at Sea: Fishers’ politics and marine conservation in coastal Odisha, India

This is a paper about the politics of fishing rights in and around the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary in coastal Odisha, in eastern India. Claims to the resources of this sanctuary are politicised through the creation of a particularly damaging narrative by influential Odiya environmental actors about Bengalis, as illegal immigrants who have hurt the ecosystem through their fishing practices. Anchored within a theoretical framework of justice as recognition, the paper considers the making of a regional Odiya environmentalism that is, potentially, deeply exclusionary. It details how an argument about ‘illegal Bengalis’ depriving ‘indigenous Odiyas’ of their legitimate ‘traditional fishing rights’ derives from particular notions of indigeneity and territory. But the paper also shows that such environmentalism is tenuous, and fits uneasily with the everyday social landscape of fishing in coastal Odisha. It concludes that a wider class conflict between small fishers and the state over a sanctuary sets the context in which questions about legitimate resource rights are raised, sometimes with important effects, like when out at sea

Social-ecological dynamics of the small scale fisheries in Sundarban Mangrove Forest, Bangladesh

The Sundarban Mangrove Forest (SMF) is an intricate ecosystem containing the most varied and profuse natural resources of Bangladesh. This study presents empirical research, based on primary and secondary data, regarding the social-ecological system (SES), social-ecological dynamics, different stakeholders and relevant management policies of small-scale or artisanal fisheries such as the SMF; showing how, despite extensive diversification, the livelihood activities of the artisanal fishers in the SMF all depend on the forest itself. Regardless of this critical importance of mangroves, however, deforestation continues due to immature death of mangroves, illegal logging, increased salinity, natural disasters and significant household consumption of mangrove wood by local people. As the mangroves are destroyed fish stocks, and other fishery resources are reduced, leading to moves of desperation among those whose livelihood has traditionally been fishing. The present study also considers several risks and shock factors in the fishers' livelihood: attacks by wild animals (especially tigers) and local bandits, illness, natural disasters, river bank erosion, and the cost of paying off corrupt officials. The artisanal fishers of the SMF have adopted different strategies for coping with these problems: developing partnerships, violating the fisheries management laws and regulations, migrating, placing greater responsibility on women, and bartering fishing knowledge and information. This study shows how the social component (human), the ecological component (mangrove resources) and the inter-phase aspects (local ecological knowledge, stakeholder's interest, and money lenders or middle man roles) of the SMF as an SES are linked in mutual interaction. It furthermore considers how the social-ecological dynamics of the SMF have negative impacts on artisanal fishermen's livelihoods. Hence there is an urgency to update existing policies and management issues for the sustainable utilization of the SMF resources, eventually contributing to theimprovement of the artisanal fishers' livelihoods.Peer reviewe