Mayuresh Gangal
The project aims to provide with a reliable baseline for the impact of fishing on fish demographics and to understand the associated socio-economic drivers of the industry.
© Vardhan Patankar.
Fisheries are considered the main cause for the collapse of marine food webs and decline in the abundance of marine fishes. This has threatened not only the ecosystem but also food security and livelihoods of people depending on it. Hence, the knowledge of how target fish populations are modified with changing fishing intensity is crucial to establish sustainable fisheries. Fisheries regulations require information on fish populations and knowledge about social factors such as the organization of fishing communities and dynamic market demands.
With this project we will try to provide a reliable reference point of the population structure for a few target fish species along the coastal districts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, in Maharashtra, India. The knowledge of the population structure of fish at different trophic levels will better reveal the impact of fishing across the food web. We will also explore and critically review the strategies and decisions that communities have employed in response to changes in fish catch composition, and declines in abundances of preferred fish species.
Header: © Mayuresh Gangal.