Weather/forecasting: a fishers’ forecaster

Item Type article

Authors Martin, Max

Download date 30/09/2021 07:25:05

Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/40302 Weather Forecasting A Fishers’ Forecaster

Action research by the University of Sussex is bringing fishermen and scientists together to track wind, and waves and save lives

een from the air, and loudspeakers. It is a trial-and-error , the capital process and we call it, “Co-production Scity of state in south India, of knowledge and communication looks like a magic carpet – a long tools for safe and sustainable artisanal strip of golden sand separating a vast fishing.” green canopy of palms and We focus on two fishing villages. the turquoise shimmer of the Arabian The first is Anchuthengu in the north of Sea. These sandy shores are home to the district and part of a barrier island, the largest concentration of artisanal where the British marine fishers in this part of the world built one of its first forts in 1695. It is a – 42 villages spread along a 48-mile thin strip of land between the Arabian coastline. Many of these fishers are Sea and a lagoon. It is losing part of 43 poor. its seaward edge, especially after the Marine fishing in the tropical seas off Thiruvananthapuram (8° 31' N 76° 56' E) is an adventurous affair, especially The research here by the University of Sussex seeks during the monsoon season that begins ways to make marine weather forecasts more accurate, on 1 June and lasts till September. During these months, fishers brave accessible and actionable in line with the risk culture of high waves, buffeting winds, swift the fishers. ocean currents, thunderstorms and low visibility, but even today, they have no easy access to regular marine weather groynes laid for a fishing harbour built forecasts. on a nearby estuary has changed wave The research here by the University and current patterns and worsened of Sussex seeks ways to make marine coastal erosion. In bad weather, fishers weather forecasts more accurate, find it risky to enter and exit the sea accessible and actionable in line mouth as high waves overturn their with the risk culture of the fishers. small craft or hurl them against the We work in collaboration with state granite structures. People have died in officials and forecasters – mainly our such accidents and the fishers consider research partners, the State Disaster it the biggest risk they face. Management Authority (SDMA) and the Indian National Centre for Visual communication Ocean Information Services (INCOIS). In our risk communication workshops, Our team, led by Professor Filippo Anchuthengu fishers preferred to Osella, an anthropologist, comprises address the harbour-related risks another senior anthropologist, an first. So they focused on visual integration design expert and two communication, designing a set of This article is by Max Martin of us geographers. We design model signals marking safe channels for ([email protected] ), a forecasts and weather alerts with navigation to the harbour. While the research fellow engaged in field work in Thiruvananthapuram, India as part of a the local fishers, and help them fishers negotiate with the district Sussex Sustainability Research Programme disseminate these bulletins over many authorities to install this signal system, study aimed at better risk communication for channels such as mobile phones, radio they have also requested the SDMA local fishers

AUGUST 2018 Weather

to provide another set of signals to miles south of Anchuthengu. The two give rough weather alerts. Experts of villages are connected by a canal built the Kerala State Institute of Design in the early 19th century by a queen in nearby district are helping of the erstwhile kingdom. the fishers in the process. As I write The canal, once a trunk route, is now this article, the fishers are looking in disuse, but fishers frequently move for brighter light-emitting diode between the two villages by road and (LED) lamps to replace a set they had sea, and find partners in business and installed on their own as part of a test life. Poonthura was one of the villages signal system. Anchuthengu fishers worst hit by Cyclone Ockhi, which led are also exploring better ways to share to many fishers dying or going missing marine weather forecasts – through at sea. The storm system had formed in mobile phone calls, social media and the southern Bay of Bengal and caused loudspeaker announcements. damage in Sri Lanka on 29 November, A small group in the nearby only to intensify the next day off the Puthukurichy village called Radio coasts of Thiruvananthapuram and Monsoon is offering marine weather Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, bulletins in over phone sinking dozens of boats. Fishers were lines and WhatsApp, based on an already out at sea when the storm INCOIS service. The fishers like to rapidly gained strength, and were hear it over small loudspeakers, along unable to access forecasts. The event with other useful information such as itself was not classified as a cyclonic availability of fish and market trends. storm (wind speeds greater than 39 On 13 June, we tested a set of public miles per hour) till 30 November. address systems to disseminate these Faced with weather-related risks at 44 messages at places where the fishers sea, the local fishers of Poonthura are dock their boats. The fishers said demanding two interventions. First, the bulletins, based on INCOIS and they need a clear forecast dissemination Indian Meteorological Department system accessible on the sandy seashore (IMD) forecasts, were accurate most and a local estuary where they launch of the time. They are now trying to their boats. They prefer loudspeaker set up a small studio to record audio announcements and voice calls over programmes. currently available text messages that Our other field study site is INCOIS provides. Second, they want a Muthalappozhi harbour Poonthura, close to the city and 20 system that is reliable when they are fishing offshore. Fishers here often go max martin 25 nautical miles and beyond, moving Harbour north or south, where the wind patterns HARBOUR can be dramatically different from The harbour three miles south what they experience closer to home. of Anchuthengu village, Younger fishers already share weather, connected through a lagoon, is fish and navigation information over hazard-prone in rough weather. The local villagers their own informal networks of mobile are designing a signal system phones (range of up to 10 nautical to make it safer. It also leads miles offshore) and wireless sets. What to coastal erosion on its they want is a wireless base station northern side. that can give round-the-clock weather information and a way to connect it with formal weather forecast systems. Another idea is to set up their own community frequency modulation (FM) radio station, which can beam forecasts, songs and talk shows. The radio station is taking time to materialize amidst deliberations about who should own and run it. Muthalappozhi harbour, three miles south of Anchuthengu village in Kerala and connected Meanwhile, we join the discussions through a lagoon, is hazard-prone in rough weather amongst fishers, technologists and

SAMUDRA Report No. 79 Forecasting

Kevin Julius regulators as part of our research, looking at the feasibility of various locally owned risk communication options. In our workshops, the fishers said that marine weather forecasts need to be more local, accurate and timely, and must have a clear focus on conditions offshore. The weather bulletins currently available over radio and television are largely land-based. Offshore wind patterns are of particular interest to the fishers. However, they have no access to services such as Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) that informs the maritime industry over specialized equipment and the Internet. Ongoing experiments such as Radio Monsoon include GMDSS information. At the same time, the government Sorting fish at Anchuthengu, Kerala, India. In our risk communication workshops, Anchuthengu fishers agencies are listening to the fishers and preferred to address the harbour-related risks first offering support to some of their local, last-mile communication initiatives. In we share notes on the accuracy of the March, when a storm system gained forecasts at different points. The idea strength off the Kerala coast, the IMD is to look for novel and better ways issued warnings which were relayed of risk communication for safe and 45 over loudspeakers by the SDMA, which sustainable fishing. We share this data also banned fishing activities for a few with the forecasters, contributing to days. Fishers welcome such alerts, better models and future research. Our though they are concerned that fishing in-house philosophy remains: “Save restrictions cover a large swathe of one life and it will be worth it.” the sea, and false alerts adversely affect their livelihoods. They demand more precision in terms of time and space. Such concerns about accuracy, accessibility and actionability of the forecasts became the focus of a research meeting we hosted in For more Thiruvananthapuram on 11 June, for our stakeholders and a group of https://www.icsf.net/en/occasional- scientists and experts who collaborate papers/article/EN/149-some-aspects-of. with us. html?limitstart=0 As the fishers and forecasters Eyes on their fingertips: Some continue their debate and dialogue, aspects of the arts, science, they have already started taking technology and culture of the precautions in anticipation of the fisherfolk of Trivandrum, India rough sea conditions during the https://www.facebook.com/ monsoon season. For our part, we RadioMonsoon/ are conducting more ‘co-production’ Facebook: Radio Monsoon workshops and field trials of various https://twitter.com/radiomonsoon modes of risk communication. We Twitter: Radio Monsoon are tracking small fishing vessels and https://www.icsf.net/en/samudra/article/ mapping their forays with the aid of EN/78-4347-Comment.html global positioning system (GPS) devices, On Land, at Sea, Lives Matter which several fishers carry on board, and then comparing these tracks with http://sdma.kerala.gov.in/ Kerala - State Disaster Management potential fishing grounds shown in Authority satellite images. Once they return,

AUGUST 2018