Of late, he feels as though his prayers are going unheard. “Even after the rainy season, the sea remains disturbed for several months,” he says. He is also unhappy with the catch that traditional fishing communities get, even after the two-month annual ban on deep-fishing. The ban intends to facilitate fish breeding. “There were limited large-scale deep fishers then.
Two decades ago, every expedition in my Rampani boat (a traditional fishing boat with 40-50 fishers rowing) in the shallow waters would have fetched me at least Rs 4 to Rs 5 lakh. Today, despite heavy mechanised boats being deployed, every venture into the sea only fetches between Rs 1 and Rs 2 lakh,” says Tandel.
Pradip Panda, a Kolkata-based marine researcher, says anthropocentric activities are not just impacting marine life but entire ecologies, including mangrove, coral reef and intertidal habitats. “Industrial waste and untreated sewage being discharged into the sea through Hooghly river is adversely impacting the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangroves,” he laments. Mangroves are considered an important ecosystem as they are host to both marine and freshwater animals.
“A deficit in the supply of fresh water to the sea is increasing salinity in the Sundarban mangroves, affecting the life cycle of several fish and crabs. Hilsa fish, a staple in the region, is disappearing from the plates of local communities. These fish are moving southwards,” he says. Even trawlers have witnessed a decline in the production of fish like Indian oil sardine and Hilsa, which until recent years, were found abundantly in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Data from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi also shows a decline of nearly 6,000 tonnes in the oil sardine catch in 2023, when compared to the previous year.
CMFRI scientist Shobhana K S explains that such a decline could be attributed to overfishing and catching of juvenile fishes. This is one of many visible impacts of human activity. The consequences of damage to marine ecology are not just felt by local fishermen across the country’s 7,516.6 km coastline, but also by farmers in the hinterlands, due to disturbed southwest and northeast monsoons. “Oceans regulate our climate. We are witnessing an increase in supercyclones, unseasonal rain in unexpected places and other natural disasters as oceans are warming up.
We can expect more such occurrences if oceans continue to become warmer,” explains Divya Karnad, a marine conservationist and associate professor at Ashoka University. Oceans are major absorbers of global carbonate depositions, and nearly 24 million people are directly or indirectly dependent on the marine economy, according to government data.
Yet, there is little care being given to our marine ecosystems, which comprise coral reefs, estuaries, intertidal zones, mud flats, mangroves, the ocean surface, salt marshes, lagoons, and the sea floor.
As per the Global Nature Conservation Index, released this October, India was among the five worst performers out of 180 countries. Its low score owed largely to weak action in marine conservation. Though 7.5% of the country’s terrestrial area is protected, only 0.2% of India’s waters are protected. Though many experts feel that the report has flaws in its evaluation of conservation efforts, they are united in acknowledging that marine conservation is largely lacking in the country.
Biodiverse: The geographical location of India, between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, means that the region has enormous biological diversity. According to government data, saline waters in the peninsular area and around the 1,382 islands of the country are home to nearly 12% of the world’s fish populations.
There are more than 844 species of marine algae (seaweed), 14 species of seagrass and 69 species of mangroves, according to a 2012 Indira Gandhi National Forestry Academy report. In terms of faunal diversity, the seas around India have 451 species of sponges, more than 200 species of corals, 2,900 plus species of crustaceans, 3,370 species of marine molluscs, more than 200 species of bryozoans, 765 species of echinoderms, 47 species of tunicates, over 1,300 marine fishes, 26 species of sea snakes, 5 species of sea turtles and 30 species of marine mammals including dugong, dolphins and whales. “Oceans are the planet’s greatest carbon sink.
They absorb excess heat, carbon and greenhouse gasses generated on land. However, they are reaching their threshold for absorption. A warmer sea means that our icebergs are melting, sea levels are rising, marine heatwaves are increasing and oceans are becoming acidified,” says marine biologist V N Nayak. “Several species of fishes have started moving towards poles in search of cooler waters, while coral reefs, which are sensitive to high temperatures, are getting bleached,” he says.