Small fishermen need encouragement: expert

Veteran fisheries expert John Kurien has advocated decentralised beach-based small-scale fisheries as the most effective social benefit with no financial support to improve the livelihood of thousands of traditional fishermen.

Former FAO advisor in Cambodia and Indonesia and a visiting professor at Azim Premji University, Mr. Kurien, who pioneered cooperative fisheries in Kerala, said in tropical sea, thousands of species were available. He mooted selective and seasonal fishing by providing data by various research institutes on how, what, and when to fish.

Encouraging small fishermen could only yield inclusive development, he told

The Hindu during his two-day visit to the city recently. He said the tail-end ecosystem of the sea in India was now under threat.

Owing to changing beach morphology, huge constructions on the coast, indiscriminate use of plastic and discharge of industrial effluents into the sea were combination of factors which posed a grave threat to the livelihood of traditional fishermen.

He said India at present was producing 3.7 million tonne of marine fish of which the deep-sea fishing accounts for 60,000 to 70,000 tonne. Of the fish caught from deep-sea, 70 per cent was netted by traditional fishermen. “Hence it is a myth that deep-sea is rich with fish species,” he remarked. “The letter of permit vessels could catch only 3 per cent of total capture from deep-sea. The recommendation to allow 270 foreign vessels under LoP route is not justified and based on wrong calculations,” the expert said.