Purse Seines And Migrant Labour

Managing fisheries in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district.

- Divya Karnad

As our oceans are filled with plastic and emptied of marine life, and climate change moves into higher gear, it becomes ever more vital that the contentious issue of marine fishing takes centre stage in national and international debates on the future of both fish and fisherfolk.

The sun was sinking into the sea. Wafting on the sea breeze came a song, the words of which were neither Marathi nor Malvani. The song was being sung by a group of Telugu-speaking fishermen from the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. The beautiful folk music of these fishermen from the east coast seemed strangely out of place amidst the bays and lateritic hills of the west coast. Still, I didn’t think much of it until I found this group of east coast fishermen operating a local mini purse seine vessel, the next morning. My research on fisheries management by fishing communities in Sindhudurg had revealed that purse seine operations in the region were very contentious. Therefore, finding migrant fishermen purse seining in Sindhudurg was quite surprising. The entry of migrants into a livelihood occupation such as fishing could have several undesirable socio ecological outcomes.

ECO-FRIENDLY FISHING?