Understanding the fishers to change the fishery in the bottom trawl industry in India

Abstract

This research analyses the nature of human dependence on bottom trawling as a necessary precursor to constraining its impact. Bottom trawling involves dragging a weighted net along the seabed, catching and/or damaging every organism in its path. Bottom trawling can negatively affect fishers, resulting in fewer opportunities for artisanal and small-scale fishers, diminished food security, increased human rights violations, and social and violent conflicts. This study focuses on India, where trawling started in 1956 and where 79% of total landings by trawls that targeted shrimp were already gathering unintended catches by 1979. While the obvious solution seems to be to limit bottom trawling, decision-makers are often challenged by conflicting economic, social, and environmental imperatives. The objective of the study was to understand fishers’ motivations to start, stay in and stop bottom trawling to better address challenges faced by decision-makers. A mix of peer-reviewed and grey literature was used to conduct a systematic literature review.

The results show that the fishery and fishers chose to begin bottom trawling and stay in the industry primarily because of offers of subsidies, potentially better income, and likely profits. The bottom trawl industry persisted despite declining resources because of (i) the industries’ capacity to exert power which allowed them to extend a sunset business, and (ii) poor enforcement of regulations that should have constrained trawling. We underline the entrenched nature of the trawl industry, where fishers were trapped in bottom trawling because of accumulated debt to people higher in the trade. Fishers stopped trawling when constrained by regulations, resource depletion, and low financial returns. Fishers’ motivations to participate in bottom trawling varied according to their role in the trawl industry, with owners often reaping more benefits from trawling than the crew. Recognizing and addressing these results will be crucial in determining how best to constrain bottom trawling effectively.

Mangar, R.S., Foster, S.J., and Vincent, A.C.J. (2023)  Understanding the fishers to change the fishery in the bottom trawl industry in India. Fisheries Centre Research Reports 31(4), 150 pp. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85923