Team members: Rajeswari B.T., Al Badush, Mayuresh Gangal, Rohan Arthur, Radhika Nair

Alumni: Rucha Karkarey, Stella James

Project timeline: 2013 - Ongoing

Coral reef ecosystems have been a crucial source of nutrition, livelihood and recreation for coastal communities for most of history. Scientists and anthropologists across the world have documented how the use of reef fish has been woven into the socio-cultural fabric of the people that depend on them. Today, fishing has become increasingly industrialised in order to meet massive commercial demand with devastating and far-reaching consequences on the marine food web. Reef fisheries have not been exempt. The long-lived, slow-growing and territorial life-histories of reef fish make them especially vulnerable to overharvest. In the absence of systematic monitoring and proactive local management, the sheer volume of extraction seen in commercial fisheries, which often target predators like sharks, groupers, snappers, emperors and jacks, can potentially disrupt entire ecosystems.

The Lakshadweep archipelago is part of the extremely biodiverse Indo-pacific region. Its reefs are home to hundreds of species, several of which are endemic to the Western Indian ocean. As with other islander communities, people’s relationships with their environment is changing with changing markets and greater access to the mainland. In less than a decade, commercial reef fishing has become one of the most important sources of income for fishers. A lack of formal monitoring and institutional management; however, leaves resources at risk of overuse. Through this project, we are examining various aspects of reef fisheries in the islands and their impact on the people as well as the reef ecosystem. 

Role of reef fishes

Reef fishes play a very crucial role in the recovery of coral reefs after the mass bleaching events. Many of the commercially important reef fishes are long-lived and their replacement rate is significantly low when compared to the tuna. The large-scale extraction of reef fish is thus not sustainable for recovering coral reefs. The changing nature of commercial fisheries towards coral reef fish also threatens the recovery capacity of coral reefs after bleaching disturbances. The large volume of commercial predatory reef fish extraction is comparable to regions with Marine Protected Areas outside of the commodity market. Thus a critical component of our work is to document and understand the expansion of commercial coral reef fisheries and local reef fish consumption in Lakshadweep.

Documenting the changing trends of fish catch and consumption

Life in Lakshadweep relies on resource availability and market demands. In the past, coconuts were the mainstay, but things changed in the 1960s when the Lakshadweep Fisheries Department introduced a better and more sustainable way of catching tuna fish using poles and lines. This method not only benefitted the environment but also became a significant source of livelihood. Fishers caught plenty of tuna this way and started making "mas meen" (boiled,smoked and dried) from skipjack tuna.

Until a decade ago, fishing in Lakshadweep mainly targeted offshore tuna and pelagic fish. However, again changes occurred when large mainland boats arrived in 2010-2011, collecting reef fish for export. This significantly commercialized reef fisheries without traditional sustainability regulations. Reef fish are vital for coral reef recovery after events like mass bleaching (1998, 2010), as they live long and reproduce slowly. Reef fish are crucial for helping coral reefs recover after mass bleaching events, but they reproduce slowly compared to pelagic tuna. Currently, there are no local or governmental rules to control how much reef fish can be caught, which has led to a kind of fishing frenzy.

Since 2014, our institution has been monitoring fisheries in Lakshadweep. The catch of reef fish has increased a lot since then, but people on the islands are still eating about the same amount of reef fish. Most of the catch is now being sent to the mainland for sale. Furthermore, our commitment to long-term fisheries monitoring remains unwavering. We are conducting interviews every two years, to understand the trends of Lakshadweep's fisheries catch and consumption. 

Understanding drivers of changing trends in commercial fisheries 

As our comprehension of fisheries has evolved, we aimed to understand the factors influencing changes in fisheries over time. This study attempts to explore the reasons for the growth and maintenance of this fishery in Lakshadweep, patterns of participation, and perceived reasons for its continuance by local fishing communities in Lakshadweep. 

The growth and persistence of reef fishing in Lakshadweep can't be explained solely by economic reasons. In the past, there was a cultural norm against selling reef fish for money, but now, practicality and the opportunity for cash earnings have replaced these norms, as Lakshadweep's cash economy has grown.

Changing norms once they've taken hold is challenging. Ultimately, the reasons for the fishing changes are varies from availability of tuna, conviniences of selling to the collector boats, changes in the prices. Therefore, it's crucial to prioritize the sustainability of pelagic fishing so that fishermen have a reliable alternative when reef fishing becomes less viable.

The impacts of COVID 19 on the reef fisheries of Lakshadweep 

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented global event. It has affected every sector and disrupted societies and economies worldwide. Lockdowns and travel restrictions have forced many local businesses to close for months.

Lakshadweep, though one of the last places in India to be hit by the pandemic, also faced its impact. Life came to a standstill, and the islands were cut off from the mainland for months. Commercial fishing in Lakshadweep relies heavily on market demand, both locally and for exports. However, the pandemic disrupted this. Collector boats stopped coming, and local authorities restricted fish sales in the local market.

Fishermen tried selling directly to households but couldn't sell all their catch, resulting in losses. They turned to catching skipjack tuna, which can be dried without ice. However, the pandemic caused the price of dried tuna (masmin) to drop significantly, dealing a severe blow to the fishery. But still people choose to catch mostly tuna fishes. Reef fishing is a precarious business and makes fishers completely dependent on collector boats. As the pandemic lockdown showed, the restriction of collector boats caused a collapse in the reef fishery.

Incomes alone do not explain why fishers continue to fish the reef, since incomes from pelagic fishing continue to be most profitable. Instead, a series of factors including low entry barriers, low skill requirement, low operating costs and, above all, convenience make reef fishing an attractive fall-back option. However, the fishery is completely dependent on external collector boats, and its inherent precarity was made evident during the global pandemic when the fishery collapsed for a year. Overall, we argue that economic rationality alone cannot explain the recent switch in the fishery, which is driven more by norm creation, a democratisation of the fishery, and pragmatism. Ensuring the sustainability of reef fish stocks will require engaging with these complex social trends to support local institutions of resource control.