Why India's marine scientists are emphasising on artificial reefs

Indias marine scientists are proposing artificial reefs to increase fish production and promote fishermens livelihood and that may help transform marine fisheries in the countryThe scientists opened up on this topic at a brainstorming session held on the sideline of the ongoing symposium on innovations being held hereScientists from the ICARCentral Marine Fisheries Research Institute CMFRI said the deployment of artificial reefs AR on the sea bed would enhance the growth of marine fauna and flora and stimulate natural settings for fish productionArtificial reef is a sheltered humanbuilt structure submerged on the sea bed as a substitute for natural habitatsHaving a fixed scientific design it functions as a selfsustaining production system on the sea bedAccording to a report presented by the CMFRI during the session a total of 280 AR sites have been deployed in Indias coastal waters including 243 in Tamil Nadu and 28 in KeralaThe artificial reefs could offer opportunities for a substantial increase in fish catch especially for smallscale fishers using hook and line It will help save costs besides offering a lot more environmental benefits such as enhancement of biodiversity reduction of the carbon footprint of the fishing operation reduction of wave energy and thereby coastal erosion and stabilisation of islands said the CMFRI report prepared by its director A Gopalakrishnan VVR Suresh and Joe K KizhakudanHowever the CMFRI maintained that only designated sites after studies by competent authority could be used for the deploymentKizhakudan said over 300 species coexist in a settled AR habitatThe commercial varieties being attracted to the AR include breams groupers snappers perches cobia sea bass rabbit fishes silver biddies seer fish barracuda mackerel trevallies queen fish etc said Kizhakudan adding that he is receiving overwhelming response for the artificial reefs from the fishermen communityCMFRI has developed protocols for site selection design fabrication deployment and impact assessment of this innovative technologyScientists are of the view that promoting this technology will empower small and artisanal fishers by improving their income and livelihoodUnion fisheries secretary Jatindra Nath Swain said the artificial reefs and sea ranching present a solution to the crisis prevalent in the sectorSufficient fish availability could be ensured in the nearshore waters with these technologies said SwainAlso Read Flamingo spotting guide Best spots in Mumbai to watch these winter visitorsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever