Can Artificial Reefs really enhance the inshore fishery resources? A critical review

Abstract

The depletion of fishery resources and their habitats on account of fishing, pollution and other anthropogenic activities necessitates their replenishment by some strategic management approaches. Artificial Reef (AR) is a kind of artificial fish habitat which provides living, hiding and breeding places for aquatic organisms and thereby augmenting the biodiversity and abundance of fishery resources. In particular, the installation of ARs along coastal regions could bring down the fishing pressure from mechanised sectors and thus support the small scale traditional fisheries. Since the management based on AR is not species specific but effective for all aquatic organisms in the ecosystem, it allows fisheries managers to move from a single species framework to Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) in the long run. Being a tropical coastal nation, India has also initiated trials on AR deployment. However, these studies so far are limited to the design, construction and performance of AR. In this review paper, the historical AR initiatives in India are critically analyzed and potential areas for research and development that the country can focus on are discussed particularly in the perspective of supplementing the inshore fisheries