Climate change has brought monumental shifts in weather patterns, fishing zones and migration of fish population to different areas. The phenomenon has impacted the source of livelihood for many in coastal India pushing them to turn to technological assistance to practice sustainability.
Numer8 Analytics Pvt Ltd, a data science firm, has come to their rescue: The firm analysed changes in the cyclical pattern of potential fishing zones in 2018. It found that nearshore fishing zones had drifted away further into the deeper seas.
It also analysed the coastal vulnerability index for Kerala and Odisha post-2018 Kerala cyclone and Cyclone Fani in 2019. Following this, it developed an app, OFish’, which provides fishermen with weather updates, helps them identify fishing zones and ensure that government guidelines on fishing are practiced.
The technology helps fishermen on the sea as well as on the coast.
About 170 million people in India are at the forefront of climate change and experience sea-level rise, tropical cyclones and storms, according to a United Nations report. The latest cases being of the Cyclone Amphan in Bay of Bengal and Cyclone Nisraga in the Arabian Sea, said Devleena Bhattacharjee, founder of the data science firm.
Think of it like a Google Map for fishing. A fisherman opens the app before he goes out to fish and the platform shows him fishing zones near his chosen port, said Nandhini Karthikeyan, chief technical officer, Numer8.
The high-precision marine and ocean data helps them to venture in safer areas of the sea.
Every trip made by fisherman and its details can be recorded in the app, allowing traceability to the end customers. Once the fishermen reach the shore, the aggregator helps him sell fish directly to buyers, earn a higher sales margin and realise faster payments, said Karthikeyan.
The firm enables marine and port authorities in India and Sri Lanka to monitor overfishing and unregulated fishing in the Indian coasts. It is currently working with fishermen in Maharashtra and Kerala in India.
The firm build their work on the 11 climate factors identified by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF), said Karthikeyan.
These were:
— Sea level
— Sea surface temperature
— Sea surface salinity
— Wind patterns
— Seasonality and seasonal patterns
— Rainfall
— Natural disasters
— Waves and currents
— Tidal action
— Mud flows and turbidity
— Shoreline changes
The above elements combined with pollution, increase in number of fishing boats, unregulated means of fishing and a highly unorganised fishing sector has led to a decline in fisheries through the years, Karthikeyan said.
Down To Earth 2020