Introduction of large mesh purse seine in Kerala coast: Impact and the drivers

Abstract

Purse seining is an important commercial fishing method all over the world. In India, the purse seine net was tried in nineteen fifties under the Indo-Norwegian Project and was tried in the small scale mechanised sector from 1974 onwards. The gear was used along the coastal line targeting pelagic shoals and the mesh size was only 18-22 mm, which proved to be highly destructive due to intensive catching of pelagic fishes including juveniles. On the other side, the traditional fishing sector depending on pelagic sources in shoreline faced competition with the purse seiners, which often led to conflicts. Consequently, purse seining was banned by the Supreme court of India. In this context, to help the small scale mechanised sector, the ICARCIFT introduced large mesh purse seine to enable small scale mechanised sector to go farther in the sea, harvest bigger species in deep waters and thereby avoiding the fishing pressure in coastal waters. The present study was carried out to assess whether the technology was adopted and if so, the nature of impact as well as the drivers and barriers for it. The study has revealed that after many ups and downs, there were around 72 mechanised large mesh purse seiners in Kochi, Kerala in 2010, while Maharashtra had 435, Karnataka, 422 and Goa 296. The perceived impact by direct beneficiaries was intended and positive. They were able to target larger species like horse mackerels, black pomfrets, mackerels, tuna etc. The cases of re-invention and over adoption along with its impact were also studied. The major drivers facilitated the adoption of large mesh purse seine, which has helped to gain fair remuneration for purse seiners through the diversified catch were also brought to light. Simultaneously, the unintended effects and indirect beneficiaries are also discussed in the paper.