Boat-making has a rich cultural history, especially in Balagarh, West Bengal. The boat makers of this region are skilled in making wooden boats and the profession has been passed down the generations. The boats are treated with reverence. Before being launched into the river, every newly made boat is decorated as a bride leaving for the home of her in-laws. It is adorned with kumkum, turmeric, saree and mango leaves. Boat-making and the traditions associated with it vary from region to region. But very few are willing to carry the baton forward. Sons and grandsons do not want to take up the profession anymore due to the preference for fibre boats, which are cheaper and more long-lasting. Secondly, boat-making requires a lot of skill. Most of these children now go to school and college and barely have the time to pick up the skills from their fathers and grandfathers, Dugar Kundalia says. Modernisation is also affecting the survival of traditional fishing communities. The practice of Kattu Maram (catamaran) marine fishing in Tamil Nadu is facing competition from mechanised boats. The Kattu Maram is a light boat made of timber and is rowed manually. Fishing communities, which depend on the East Kolkata Wetlands, are also struggling to make ends meet. In the 1920s, when water from the creek connected to the Bay of Bengal stopped flowing into the wetlands, the fisherfolk were left with no livelihood. They then developed a unique habitat for fish by introducing wastewater flowing from the city into the wetlands in a controlled manner. Detaining the wastewater for a period of time enhanced the growth of algae. There was no need for adding any other nutrients to the water. Fish that fed on these algae were caught and sold in the market. The East Kolkata Wetlands are, as such, the only Indian wastewater wetland enlisted in the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands signed in 1971. This is the sustaining theme of a practice which is struggling against immense pressure from real estate dealers and administrative apathy for the past few decades, says Dhrubajyoti Ghosh, regional chair for South-Asia in the Commission on Ecosystem Management, International Union for Conservation of Nature…