Across the country’s coastline, small pockets of water are being transformed into lush marine ecosystems. Modest concrete structures dropped to the seabed are drawing fish back to depleted waters, and giving traditional fishers a lifeline.
The timing could not be more critical. Falling catches, rising fuel prices and shrinking coastal fish stocks have pushed the fisheries sector into a deepening livelihood crisis. Climate change and increased cyclonic activity have further reduced fishing days. Warming seas have driven familiar local installations in the 2000s, placed around 2.5km from shore and accessible to catamaran fishers. But those sank without follow-up. His counterpart Varghese Malkiyar from Pozhiyoor notes that the new reefs, installed more than five kilometres out, are less economical for small boat operators. “When it is installed near the coast, it is economically beneficial for us,” he said. Site selection, both men agree, is critical. Proximity to trawler routes was a problem with earlier reefs, iron-bottomed trawlers would tear structures apart.
Data from reef sites backs the case for the programme. According to a case study in Sulerikattukuppam, Tamil Nadu, fish landings improved after reef deployment, particularly for perches and carangids. Across 80% of sites nationally, sustained breeding populations of sweetlips, groupers, snappers, mackerel, crabs and shrimps have been recorded. CMFRI director Grinson George noted that the ecological revival has been dramatic enough to attract whales and dolphins to reef areas.
Community involvement, conservationists stress, is what makes the difference. “As long as the community is involved, it will be a success,” said Robert Panipilla of Friends of Marine Life, though he flagged the ghost net problem from gillnet use as a concern.
Funded through the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, the programme is now eyeing private participation, through CSR funding and models such as Own a Reef, Adopt a Reef and Ranch a Reef, as the next step towards building long-term coastal resilience. installations in the 2000s, placed around 2.5km from shore and accessible to catamaran fishers. But those sank without follow-up. His counterpart Varghese Malkiyar from Pozhiyoor notes that the new reefs, installed more than five kilometres out, are less economical for small boat operators. “When it is installed near the coast, it is economically beneficial for us,” he said. Site selection, both men agree, is critical. Proximity to trawler routes was a problem with earlier reefs, iron-bottomed trawlers would tear structures apart.
Data from reef sites backs the case for the programme.
According to a case study in Sulerikattukuppam, Tamil Nadu, fish landings improved after reef deployment, particularly for perches and carangids. Across 80% of sites nationally, sustained breeding populations of sweetlips, groupers, snappers, mackerel, crabs and shrimps have been recorded. CMFRI director Grinson George noted that the ecological revival has been dramatic enough to attract whales and dolphins to reef areas.
Community involvement, conservationists stress, is what makes the difference. “As long as the community is involved, it will be a success,” said Robert Panipilla of Friends of Marine Life, though he flagged the ghost net problem from gillnet use as a concern.
Funded through the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, the programme is now eyeing private participation, through CSR funding and models such as Own a Reef, Adopt a Reef and Ranch a Reef, as the next step towards building long-term coastal resilience. installations in the 2000s, placed around 2.5km from shore and accessible to catamaran fishers. But those sank without follow-up. His counterpart Varghese Malkiyar from Pozhiyoor notes that the new reefs, installed more than five kilometres out, are less economical for small boat operators.
“When it is installed near the coast, it is economically beneficial for us,” he said. Site selection, both men agree, is critical. Proximity to trawler routes was a problem with earlier reefs, iron-bottomed trawlers would tear structures apart.
Data from reef sites backs the case for the programme. According to a case study in Sulerikattukuppam, Tamil Nadu, fish landings improved after reef deployment, particularly for perches and carangids. Across 80% of sites nationally, sustained breeding populations of sweetlips, groupers, snappers, mackerel, crabs and shrimps have been recorded. CMFRI director Grinson George noted that the ecological revival has been dramatic enough to attract whales and dolphins to reef areas.
Community involvement, conservationists stress, is what makes the difference. “As long as the community is involved, it will be a success,” said Robert Panipilla of Friends of Marine Life, though he flagged the ghost net problem from gillnet use as a concern.
Funded through the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, the programme is now eyeing private participation, through CSR funding and models such as Own a Reef, Adopt a Reef and Ranch a Reef, as the next step towards building long-term coastal resilience. installations in the 2000s, placed around 2.5km from shore and accessible to catamaran fishers. But those sank without follow-up. His counterpart Varghese Malkiyar from Pozhiyoor notes that the new reefs, installed more than five kilometres out, are less economical for small boat operators.
“When it is installed near the coast, it is economically beneficial for us,” he said. Site selection, both men agree, is critical. Proximity to trawler routes was a problem with earlier reefs, iron-bottomed trawlers would tear structures apart.
Data from reef sites backs the case for the programme. According to a case study in Sulerikattukuppam, Tamil Nadu, fish landings improved after reef deployment, particularly for perches and carangids. Across 80% of sites nationally, sustained breeding populations of sweetlips, groupers, snappers, mackerel, crabs and shrimps have been recorded. CMFRI director Grinson George noted that the ecological revival has been dramatic enough to attract whales and dolphins to reef areas.
Community involvement, conservationists stress, is what makes the difference. “As long as the community is involved, it will be a success,” said Robert Panipilla of Friends of Marine Life, though he flagged the ghost net problem from gillnet use as a concern.
Funded through the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, the programme is now eyeing private participation, through CSR funding and models such as Own a Reef, Adopt a Reef and Ranch a Reef, as the next step towards building long-term coastal resilience.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
