To combat depletion in fish population, calendar helps promote informed consumption

Know Your Fish (https://www.knowyourfish.org.in/) is a month-to-month calendar about which fish to keep away from or select based mostly on breeding seasons and populations. It was launched in 2017.

Banking on the customers, Pooja Rathod, Mayuresh Gangal and Chetana Purushotham— alumni of Nationwide Centre for Organic Sciences, Bengaluru — launched the web site after three years of analysis. The concept for the web site got here when a restaurateur approached them for options on applicable fish to serve in 2014.

There’s a 61-day (June 1 to July 31) annual fishing ban on the west coast of the nation. It was formulated to assist regenerate marine fisheries within the Indian waters, the place the monsoon season creates a conducive atmosphere for fish spawning, and is essential to guard the marine habitat through the replica interval.

Nonetheless, to fight the depleting catch, fishermen from Gujarat have sought a rise within the fishing ban to 91-120 days.

“The fisheries division ought to have an in depth dialogue with scientists on the breeding interval of various fish and have a monsoon ban accordingly. For instance, the breeding interval of pomfret is in Could, whereas others begin in June. We are able to have a two-month ban within the monsoon, and one other in January and February. This manner we are able to hold the depletion in fish catch in test,” stated Devendra Tandel, president of the state fisheries affiliation.

The Know Your Fish (KYF) crew is hoping that knowledgeable decisions and up to date consuming habits will result in a change in demand and ultimately to fishing practices. “Addressing the problem of overfishing requires motion from a number of fronts. By KYF we are able to sensitise folks, construct a ‘human constituency’ for marine ecosystems, and if a majority of seafood customers observe such initiatives, they will affect the demand,” stated Gangal, a marine biologist and one of many founders.

The group checked scientific knowledge from the Central Marine Fisheries Institute and took help from pals and colleagues to assist put collectively a web site. Additionally they assembled the calendar, highlighting 12 fashionable species. Additionally they partnered with eating places which have agreed to change their menus to serve solely fish which might be in season.

KYF is adapting its strategy based mostly on suggestions. On its web site, it has requested residents to report findings of eggs within the fish they caught/purchased. “Some fish breed all year long, so we’ve requested residents to keep away from these fish within the peak breeding interval. Secondly, the info with sure species is proscribed and thru residents’ initiatives, we are able to enhance the knowledge,” stated Gangal.

Presenting the analysis in a simplified method, the crew can also be working to make KYF extra accessible and out there in 5 languages which might be extensively spoken alongside the west coast.

In 2019, two research warned that fish populations alongside Maharashtra’s coast might collapse due to overfishing and the killing of juvenile fish. Maharashtra recorded a significant decline in marine fish landings catch at 32 per cent in 2019 from the earlier 12 months at 2.01 lakh tonnes, the bottom within the final 45 years, based on the Central Marine Fisheries Analysis Institute (CMFRI). The CMFRI famous a lowering pattern within the catch in the previous few years — in 2018 it was 2.95 lakh tonnes whereas in 2017 it was 3.81 lakh tonnes.

Bombay Duck or Bombil is quickly disappearing from town’s coastal waters (decline by 25% up to now decade) as a result of a mixture of overfishing and local weather change, says a examine by CMFRI.