Fishing in troubled waters
Thursday March 8 2007 18:29 IST
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Malini Shankar





The Asian Tsunami of December 26, 2004, was a calamitous event with
long-term repercussions. Minutes before the Tsunami struck the Andamans -
which was the landmass nearest to the epicentre of the 'Mega Earthquake' -
the sea waters withdrew up to a distance of nearly 2 kilometres, leaving all
the fish and the marine ecosystem literally at the mercy of the elements.

The subduction earthquake that preceded the Tsunami swallowed a large chunk
of the ocean floor, gulping in the sea as well. Once the earthquake
stabilised the ocean floor, the sea water emerged from the subduction, the
force of the emerging sea waters adding to the velocity of what was to
develop as the Tsunami. The distance between the crescents of the Tsunami or
the wavelengths added to the energy of the nightmare waves.

Tonnes of fish perished out of water when the sea withdrew. Being a natural
calamity, marine resources could stabilise itself over the course of time;
what remains is the impact it had on livelihood of the fisherfolk.

The Tsunami invaded large parts of the thin land mass. "The sea level has
increased by at least three metres in some areas," says Professor PM Mohan,
head of the Department of Ocean Studies and Marine Biology of the
Pondicherry University in Port Blair, Andamans.

Today, the fisherfolk cannot go out to deep sea as the sea levels have
changed and fishing grounds have altered. The sea is very deep even half a
kilometre off the shore, so they need bigger trawlers, boat engines, etc.

"There is almost the same amount of fish as before the Tsunami. The stocks
(mackerel, lesser sardines, anchovies, coastal tuna, oceanic tuna,
carangids, seer fishes, pelagic sharks, perches) are not affected by this
calamity, " says Professor Mohan.

If the fish stock has indeed been depleted, it has not yet been quantified
and established by the scientific community, asserts Dr Krishnamurthy,
director of fisheries of the UT Administration.

According to him, "the fish stock is replenished to almost the pre-Tsunami
levels" but the fishing has decreased because they are unable to go out to
sea. It's a rocky outcrop, in some places land has submerged into the sea;
in some other places, the sea has withdrawn or invaded the land, so the
profile of the fishing grounds has changed drastically.

In fact, fishing grounds have been destroyed. Over 1,350 hectares of coastal
areas - which were largely the most viable fishing grounds in the island
chain - were inundated by the Tsunami.

The fish stock has also been dislocated. "Over 1,200 different species of
fish found in the sea around the islands are today dislocated as their
habitats have changed," says Dr Krishnamurthy. Their newer habitats need to
be studied.

The traumatised fisherfolk have lost 2103 fishing boats, 894 fisherfolk lost
their fishing gear like boat engines, fishing nets and oars, and 117 fish
vendors have lost their fishing implements due to the Tsunami (the
Nicobarese are also known for harpoon fishing).

Infrastructure like the dysfunctional ice plant and cold storage and four
lobster / crab fattening units were also destroyed. The fisherfolk also lost
their modest households in all the islands south of South Andaman district -
Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Nancowrie, Katchall, Teresa, Chowra, and
Campbell Bay.

The A&N Administration conducted a livelihood survey in the aftermath of the
Tsunami. The report cites that at least 468 families who were earlier
dependent on fishing for a livelihood now need assistance to revive their
livelihood. The recommended assistance includes soft loans, subsidised
supply of fishing gear including boats, nets, oars, hooks, lines, sinkers,
engines etc.

Given the fact that the tribal society and culture of the Nicobarese does
not believe and does not practise commercial fishing, their disinterest in
commercial fishing post-Tsunami can perhaps be discounted.

But for the fact that it has affected their nutrition levels. The high
intake of carbohydrates used to be neutralised by hard work, fish
consumption and a fairly harsh lifestyle.

The fish used to wear down the ill effects of extra intake of carbohydrates.
With the distinct fall in fishing, and thereby fish intake, there is now an
increase in the occurrence of hypertension and increased blood pressure
amongst the tribals in Nicobar group of Islands, observed Deputy
Commissioner of Nicobar, Ankita Mishra. This phenomenon however needs to be
substantiated by the medical community.

The Nicobarese are a tribal society steeped in traditions of barter and
subsistence living. Before the Tsunami, their fish catch used to be
distributed in their Tuhets (patrilineal Nicobarese joint families sharing
resources and land sans ownership) and they consumed whatever they could.

They did not believe in, practice, nor train themselves for commercial
fishing. Given this background, they did not suffer any major commercial
losses after the calamity. The inept efforts of the Andaman administration
to introduce commercial aquaculture before the Tsunami had floundered
anyway.

But after the Tsunami brought in crores of rupees, the administration is
trying to usher in commercial aquaculture.

The fragile nature of commercial aquaculture in a sensitive place like the
A&N Islands notwithstanding, the process of reclamation of land invaded by
the sea after the Tsunami will stop if commercial aquaculture takes concrete
shape. For the Andaman and Nicobar Island Industrial Cooperative and the
Directorate of Fisheries are trying to start aquaculture in those areas
where the sea has inundated land.

Should this venture succeed, and the Nicobarese become dependent on a
monetary economy (with all its diverse complications) that forbears
aquaculture, how sustainable a development might that be given the remote
land mass' vulnerability to diverse kinds of natural calamities? Also, what
would be the impact on this traditional community?

The spot that had been located for commercial aquaculture barely 20
kilometres from Port Blair before the Tsunami had not developed adequately
because of the lack of a scientific approach. The area was found to be
detrimental to shrimp culture, for the fish excreta in that area of the sea
was found to have the White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and the Mondon Baculo
virus.

Sustaining aquaculture in terribly humid conditions and protecting the
shrimps in a "bio secure environment" will be the next greatest challenge,
discounting the (un)preparedness of the Directorate of Fisheries. After the
Tsunami invaded large tracts of land, the Andaman and Nicobar Administration
wants to revive aquaculture in those very areas. On the one hand it will
prevent the eco-detrimental reclamation of land but on the other it will
introduce extremely hazardous fish feed to the sensitive marine ecosystem.

As of now, academic research is going on to establish the possibilities of
aquaculture in A&N. Besides, a report with the trade and industries
department recommends the commencement of commercial aquaculture.

Finally, not the least of the challenges is the utterly unsustainable nature
of aquaculture in the tropical paradise; it is notorious for a short span of
high yield productivity - a maximum of seven years. The fisheries director
neither confirms nor dismisses the prospect and status of development of
commercial aquaculture in the islands saying "it may start anytime soon".

If the government introduces aquaculture it will have a devastating impact.
It is a short-term enterprise with high yield and high returns. After that
there will not be any yield of shrimps because the fish feed would have
destroyed the sensitive marine ecosystem and fragile fishing grounds in
coastal waters; add the fact that the Nicobarese find commercial fishing
anathema to their culture.

The Society for Andaman and Nicobar Ecology does voice concern at the
prospect of unviable fishing practices being undertaken. Says Samir Acharya
of Society for Andaman Nicobar Ecology (SANE), "Communities go for
aquaculture only after exhausting the potential of capture fisheries. In the
A&N Islands, we are exploiting only about 10 per cent of the capture fishery
potential.

So, normally, one should not think of aquaculture till the capture fishery
potential is at least 80 per cent exploited. Aquaculture is capital
intensive, with a large pollution potential and plagued by diseases that
have the potential of becoming epizootic and affecting other spices, even
humans.

It is true that post-Tsunami, some of our lowlands and rice fields are
inundated permanently in saline/brackish water. It is also true that the
owners of these lands are today without any means of livelihood.
Non-intensive shrimp-farming, for example, could be a viable and sustainable
option for them.

But awarding a blanket license/permit to a single entity with monopolistic
rights over the whole of South Andaman is bad, inequitable and unjust.''