Overfishing — the threat to ocean wealth, livelihoods

• The Indian marine fisheries sector has reached its maximum potential yield, but there is inequity with small-scale fishers catching only 10% of the volume.

• Three-quarters of India’s marine fisher families live below the poverty line.

• Attempts to catch ‘just one more kilo’ with newer nets and bigger engines yield no more fish or marginally increase volumes but with much higher debt, fuel, and other costs for already hard-pressed communities.

• Juvenile fishing, facilitated by smaller mesh sizes, depletes spawning stock biomass, driving long-term declines in commercially important species such as sardine and mackerel.

• The regulatory framework is complicated, with all the coastal State/Union Territories having their own Marine Fisheries Regulation Act (MFRA).

• India should look into harmonising these disparities into a national standard by integrating scientifically established catch limits, have uniform minimum legal size (MLS), fishing gear restrictions, and closed seasons.

• Solutions to pursue include integrating scientifically established catch limits, have uniform minimum legal size (MLS), fishing gear restrictions, and closed seasons.

• New Zealand’s fish quota management system (QMS) has shown excellent results by aligning science and policy. Adapting the QMS for India’s large mechanised trawl fleet could curb the depletion of marine biodiversity by tying fishing allowances to actual stock health, rather than vessel size or fuel use.

• Reining in the fish-meal and fish-oil (FMFO) industry is another urgent priority. Capping FMFO quotas, mandating on-board release of juveniles, or redirecting bycatch toward local aquaculture brood stock would align industry incentives with biodiversity conservation.

• Achieving these reforms demands action at multiple levels, including optimizing vessel licences, infrastructure grants, fisheries subsidies, empowering fisher cooperatives and village councils, and empowering urban and rural consumers.

• Climate-driven storms, coastal erosion, and market volatility threaten India’s nearly 8,000 km coastline and its 3,000 plus fishing villages.