BOBLME National Inception Workshop

Vishakhapatnam, India • 6-7 May, 2010

Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem Project

BOBLME-2010-Project-06 2 Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystems (BOBLME)Project National Inception Workshop- India Vishakhapatnam 6 – 7 May 2010

Proceedings

The National Inception Workshop of the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) India was held at the Hotel Green Park, Visakhapatnam during 6 – 7 May 2010. The Workshop was attended by 93 participants from different organizations, representing a cross section of stakeholders including fishers’ organizations, NGOs, fish processors, industry, Central and State Governments, and research institutes (List of participants in Annex-1).

Inaugural Session

During the Inaugural Session, Dr. K. Vijayakumaran, DG FSI and National Coordinator welcomed the Chief Guest, Guest of Honour, the other dignitaries and the delegates to the Workshop. The Meeting was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Dr. P. Krishnaiah, Chief Executive, National Development Board in the presence of Dr. Gavin Wall, FAO representative for India and Bhutan, who was the Guest of Honour. The inaugural function, presided by Dr. V. V. Sugunan, Assistant Director General ICAR, was attended by Dr. Chris O’Brien, Regional Coordinator and Dr. Rudolf Hermes, Chief Technical Advisor of BOBLME, Dr. Y. G. K. Murty, Dr. E. Vivekanandan and Mr. V. Vivekanandan.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Krishnaiah highlighted the importance of living marine resources in the food and livelihood security of the poor people in the Bay of Bengal Region. He exhorted the project to address the key issues of ecosystem degradation by developing informed scientific solutions and implementing national action plans. Dr. Gavin Wall expressed the hope that BOBLME will address all critical issues and the underlying causal agents and barriers which are contributing to a decline in the health of the Bay of Bengal region. He pointed out that problems facing the fisher communities in the Bay of Bengal cannot be tackled through unilateral/bilateral approaches. He stressed the need for joint action by all stakeholder countries with active participation of both State and non-State players.

In his presidential address Dr. Sugunan highlighted the fact that a quarter of humanity resides in the littoral regions of the Bay of Bengal making it the most important LME in the world in terms of livelihood support and food security. Dr. O’Brien explained that the aim of the BOBLME project was to provide a means for the eight participating countries to work collaboratively and devise a plan to recover the health of the Bay of Bengal, rejuvenate its living resources, and improve the livelihoods of the coastal populations. Over the next five years, the work will focus on strengthening and harmonizing the management capability in each participating country, and gaining a better understanding of the major marine resources and the environment, he said. Dr. Hermes, explained the context and background of the project and highlighted its salient features and achievement made so far. Dr. Y G K Murty identified pollution and as the two key issues needing immediate attention.

Technical Sessions Technical Session I During the Technical Session I that followed, three key-note papers were presented by the experts to provide a background and flag the key issues. Dr. Prasanna Kumar of the National Institute of

3 Oceanography presented the salient oceanographic features of the Bay of Bengal and Dr. E. Vivekanandan, of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute gave an overview of the marine fisheries of the Bay. Shri V. Vivekanandan spoke on the socio-economic milieu under which the marine fishers of the Bay of Bengal operate. These were followed by a presentation by Dr. V. Sampath on the lessons learnt from the Phase I of BOBLME. During this Session, Dr. Chris O’Brien, Regional Coordinator and Dr. Rudolf Hermes apprised the audience about the Project.

Dr. Prasanna Kumar explained the changing oceanographic conditions within the BOBLME and its coupling/impact on the structure and functions of the ecosystem. He suggested publication of a Newsletter by BOBLME and encouraging the stakeholders to publish articles to that of IMBER, CLIVAR. Dr E Vivekanandan underscored the importance of , ecosystem-based simulation models, development of strategies for mitigation of and adaptation to the climate change impacts, and addressing the social and equity issues. Shri V. Vivekanandan proposed development of India-specific methodologies, which might also be in convergence with the requirements of other countries. Highlighting transboundary issues in the Palk Bay to Palk Straits, he expressed the need for detailed documentation of fishing communities and their values systems in the context of community based fisheries management.

Dr. Sampath briefly outlined the activities of the Phase I of BOBLME, which included establishment of a community of researchers who kick-started the process of debate on key issues and putting in place mechanisms for communication and coordination such as Programme Steering Committee and International Scientific Review Group, National Coordinators, National Task Forces and National Scientific Review Groups. Several stakeholder consultations and scientific meetings were the highlights of the Phase I, which were held for the synthesis and assessment of extensive regional and national information available on oceanography, marine environment, living marine resources, estuarine and coastal habitats, coastal zone development, socio-economics, law, and pollution in the BOBLME. Five thematic and eight National Reports, three Workshop Reports were published.

Dr. Chris O’Brien in his presentation outlined the background and context of formulation of the BOBLME and explained the objectives, funding pattern and modes operandi of the Project, which covers 3.9 million km2 of area and relates to the lives of 400 million people living in eight countries around the Bay of Bengal. Dr. O’Brien explained the four ecological criteria on which the Project is based viz., ecology, bathymetry, hydrography and productivity & trophodynamics. He presented the five modules of BOBLME project viz., Pollution & ecosystem health, fish and fisheries, governance, socio-economics and productivity along with their indicators. Dr. O’Brien concluded his talk by providing the current status of the Project and the challenges that lie ahead.

While talking on the ‘Methodology, deliverables and timeline’, Rudolph Hermes, Chief Technical Advisor, explained how the project aims at achieving sustainable utilization and equitable sharing of marine resources within the framework of Ecosystem Approach (EA) in the Bay of Bengal. He highlighted the importance of strategic action plan, based on collective approach among the littoral States, to overcome the adverse impacts the LME faces in the form of habitat degradation, anthropogenic pressure on resources, natural calamities and climate change.

Dr. Hermes narrated how the Project aims to achieve this task through its five components viz., development of strategic actions plan (SAP), resource management, understanding of environment, ecosystem health and effective communication. In this process, a transboundary diagnostic analysis (TDA) is the key input. He explained the process of developing a TDA framework and eventually getting it approved by the stakeholders in all participating countries before integrating these into the Strategic Action Plan (SAP).

4 Technical Session II and III

During the Technical Session II participants were allowed to express their views on the issues and generated a number of suggestions to strengthen the action plan of BOBLME (Annex II).

During the Technical Sessions and III, the participants split four groups for focused discussion on the following areas: i) fisheries resource management (under the leadership of Dr E Vivekanandan), ii) Socio-economics and governance ((under the leadership of Shi V Vivekanandan), Ecosystem and Oceanography (under the leadership of Dr Prasanna Kumar) and Coastal zone management (under the leadership of Dr Ramasubramanian)

The Groups discussed issues relevant to implementation of the BOBLME Project and came out with their considered opinions and suggestions on the project action plan. As the group comprised a spectrum of stakeholder interests, the views expressed were divergent, covering a wide range of subjects. These were further reviewed by the Regional Coordinator, Chief Technical Advisor and the National Coordinator. The issues identified the Groups are:

poverty alleviation in small scale fisheries; over-exploitation of coastal and offshore waters and the resultant threat to poor coastal fisher populations; informed policies to create and govern sustainable and equitable fisheries management regimes; loss of livelihood due to conservation measures and provision for alternate livelihood; education, empowerment and raising of quality of life of fishers; evaluation of the effectiveness of existing fishing ban regimes; strict implementation of CRZ and MFRA regulations; critical area development programmes; regulation of mechanized fishing fleet size; registration of all fishing vessels; geo-referenced fishery dependent data; stock enhancement through sea ranching; open sea floating cage culture; impact of Tsunami; impact of pollution from oil drilling spills, merchant ships wastes, and land based sources; climate change; natural calamities; sea safety; mangrove regeneration; falling landings off AP coast; strategic plan for sustainable utilization of resources beyond coastal waters; improved technology and infrastructure to minimize post-harvest losses; and use of ICT tools for awareness building among fishers regarding sustainable use of fishery resources.

At the end of the Workshop, Dr. Chris O’Brien, Regional coordinator summarized the Action Plan and presented a roadmap for their implementation. The Meeting concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Dr. K. Vijayakumaran, National Coordinator.

5 Annex-1

Participants at National Inception Workshop of BOBLME Project- Visakhapatnam 6-7 May 2010.

Sl. Name Affiliation / Organization No. 1 Dr V V Sugunan ADG (Fy), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi 2 Dr P Hari Prasad Centre for Studies on Bay of Bengal, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 3 Dr K Satish Kumar Centre for Studies on Bay of Bengal, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 4 Dr K Vijayakumaran Fishery Survey of India, 5 Shri Premchand Fishery Survey of India, Mumbai 6 Shri A Tiburtius Fishery Survey of India, Mumbai 7 Shri Ashok S Kadam Fishery Survey of India, Mumbai 8 Dr S K Naik Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 9 Shri Gavin Wall FAO- Representative for India-Bhutan, New Delhi 10 Dr Chris O’Brien BOBLME RCU, Bangkok, Thailand 11 Dr Rudolf Hermes BOBLME RCU, Bangkok, Thailand 12 Shri V Suresh Joint Director of Fisheries, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh * 13 Dr K S Rao Former Principal Scientist, CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 14 Dr S Prasanna Kumar National Institute of Oceanography, 15 Dr U Sreedhar Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Visakhapatnam 16 Dr L N Murthy Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Visakhapatnam 17 Dr E Vivekanandan Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi * 18 Dr V Sampath Ex-Advisor, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Chidambaram* 19 Shri M Nagaraja Kumar Indian National Centre for Ocean Information System, Hyderabad* 20 Shri G Nayanappa Central institute of Fisheries Technology, Visakhapatnam 21 Dr P Laxmilatha Senior Scientist, Regional of Centre CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 22 Dr Pratibha Rohit Senior Scientist, Regional of Centre CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 23 Shri L Loveson Edward Scientist, Regional Centre CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 24 Dr M Balaji Scientist, Institute of Wood Science Technology, Visakhapatnam 25 Ms Muktha Menon Scientist, Regional Centre of CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 26 Shri S Reuben Former Principal Scientist, CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 27 Prof N Subba Rao School of Distance Education, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam* 28 Dr M M Prasad Central institute of Fisheries Technology, Visakhapatnam 29 Shri Ritesh Ranjan Scientist, Regional Centre of CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 30 Dr G Sudhakara Rao Former Principal Scientist, CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 31 Shri G Subba Raju Former Principal Scientist, CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 32 Shri M A Thalha Indian Coast Guard, Visakhapatnam * 33 Shri J B Dash Dy. Director of Fisheries, Orissa * 34 Dr Y G K Murty Association of Indian Fishery Industries, Visakhapatnam * 35 Shri K S V V P Reddy, I.F.S. Director of Environment, Chennai * 36 Dr M Umamaheshwara Rao Former Professor of Botany, Andhra University 37 Capt N Venkateswaralu Deep Sea Fishing Technocrats Association, Visakhapatnam 38 Shri C V N Rao Former Principal Scientist, CIFT, Visakhapatnam 39 Cdr. C S Panda Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam* 40 Dr D Imam Khasim Principal Scientist, CIFT, Visakhapatnam 41 Dr G Luthur Former Principal Scientist, CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 42 Shri M V Hanumantha Rao Central Institute of Fishery Technology, Visakhapatnam 43 Shri J V H Dixitulu Chief Editor, Fishing Chimes, Visakhapatnam 44 Dr G Rajeswari Senior Scientist, CIFT, Visakhapatnam

6 45 Shri Eashwar Dev Anand Managing Editor Fishing Chimes, Visakhapatnam 46 Shri S H Razvi Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Kakinada 47 Dr Suresh Babu P P Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Kakinada 48 Shri R R S Patnaik Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Kakinada 49 Dr T V R Murthy National Institute of Oceanography, Visakhapatnam 50 Dr Y Sadhuram National Institute of Oceanography, Visakhapatnam 51 Prof D E Babu Dept. of Zoology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 52 Shri A Siva Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 53 Shri V Vivekanandan Advisor, SIFFS, Thiruvananthapuram* 54 Dr. Bhami Reddy Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 55 Shri M A Yakub Basha Assistant Director of Fisheries, Andhra Pradesh 56 Shri S B Sarma Integrated Costal Management, Kakinada 57 Dr R Ramasubramanian MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Kakinada 58 Prof N S Sarma Dept of Marine Chemistry, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 59 Dr P Krishnaiah Chief Executive, NFDB, Hyderabad 60 Dr R Jayakumar National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad * 61 Shri V Uma Mahesh Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 62 Shri Subha Rao National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad 63 Shri N. Jagannath Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 64 Shri A Tharani Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 65 Shri Appa Rao Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 66 Shri Krishne Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 67 Shri D Kaseenadh Staff Reporter, Media Vision, Visakhapatnam 68 Prof A V Raman Dept. of Zoology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 69 Dr S K Agarwal , Visakhapatnam 70 Shri S P Chaturvedi Dy. Commissioner (Fy), DAHDF, MoA, New Delhi * 71 Shri V Padmanabham President, Sea Food Exporters Association, AP Region, Visakhapatnam 72 Shri Habibullah Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical Engineering Training, Visakhapatnam 73 Shri S Babu Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical Engineering Training, Visakhapatnam 74 Shri B Sudarshanam Joint Director, Dept of Fisheries, Visakhapatnam 75 Prof Sugata Hazra Dept of Oceanography, Jadhavpur University, Kolkata* 76 Dr Madhumita Mukherjee Joint Director, Fisheries Department, West Bengal* 77 Shri B Bhaskara Rao Fishery Professional, Visakhapatnam 78 Shri D Mohan Fishery Professional, Visakhapatnam 79 Shri P G Sreenath Assistant Director, MPEDA, Visakhapatnam 80 Shri U L Prasada Rao Director, Cyclone Warning Centre, Visakhapatnam 81 Shri P R V Prasad Assistant Meteorologist, Cyclone Warning Centre, Visakhapatnam 82 Dr G V M Gupta Centre for Marine Living Resources, Cochin 83 Shri P Lakshmana Rao Fisheries Development Officer, Visakhapatnam 84 Ms Biji Xavier Regional Centre CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 85 Dr G Maheswarudu Regional Centre CMFRI, Visakhapatnam 86 Dr Ansuman Das Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 87 Shri Arjilli Dasu DFYWA, NGO, Visakhapatnam 88 Dr R Kirubagaran National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai * 89 Shri Sanatan Das Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 90 Shri P Papa Rao Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 91 Shri K N Swamy Fishery Survey of India, Visakhapatnam 92 Shri B V Raghavraju NGO, Life Care, Visakhapatnam 93 Shri Anil Kumar NGO, Life Care, Visakhapatnam *National Task Force (NTF) members

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Annex II

Issues identified and actions suggested by the participants in the Inception Workshop of BOBLME at Vishakhapatnam India during 6-7 May 2010

 Coverage of the Project is too extensive and it needs to be trimmed down with main focus on Ecosystem Approach (EA)  Participation of NGOs will benefit the project by making it inclusive, but care is needed to identify the right NGO partners  The issue of loss of livelihood due to conservation measures needs to be addressed and avenues should be explored to provide alternate livelihood to those affected  More focus needs to be given on poverty alleviation in small scale fisheries segment  Impact of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the coastal corridor on the livelihood of fishers  Conflicts of interests between traditional fishers and industrial/entrepreneurs regimes to be minimized by seeking agreements and tradeoffs  Education, empowerment and raising of quality of life of fishers  promote fishing in deeper waters beyond 100-120 m using mid-water  Addressing the issue of over-exploitation in coastal waters  Fleet size, particularly mechanized vessels, needs to be regulated  All fishing vessels need to be registered  Modernization of fishing harbours and fish landing centres with GMP and handling practices  The existing fishing ban regime needs to be evaluated for its effectiveness in improving overall stock  Advantages of traditional beach-based fishing activities need to be weighed against the harbor-based approach  Development of a strategic plan for sustainable exploitation of resources beyond coastal waters  Adverse impact of motorization/mechanization on the traditional fishers need to be assessed and mitigation plans developed  Effective management of fisheries in EEZ to address the issue of reckless over-exploitation of offshore waters and the resultant threat to poor coastal fisher populations  Methodologies need to be developed for fast and effective collection of fish catch data  Geo-referenced fishery data need to be made available to fishers  All participating countries need to pay attention on application of remote sensing techniques to assist fishers in exploiting the resources in the offshore region and on building capacity among fishers  Development of new, species-specific fishing gear for targeted fisheries is needed  More focused studies are needed on the discards, species replacement/disappearance, and occurrence of new species  Stock enhancement through sea ranching of different species of shellfish and fin-fish  Enabling the fishermen societies to adopt open sea floating cage culture  Impact of Tsunami on the BOB ecosystem needs to be assessed  Effect of industrial pollution, oil drilling spills and wastes from merchant ships on the ecosystem and fishery resources of BOB needs attention  Impact of climate change including sea level changes, currents, El-Nino/La Nina, natural calamities, sun spot activities and sea safety measures need to be covered under the action plan  Effective control of land-based source of pollution is needed

8  Critical area development programmes such as those located outside the protected areas i.e., mangroves, corals located in areas other than biosphere reserves/reserve forests need to be given priority  Investigations are necessary to ascertain the causes of falling tuna landings off AP coast, especially at Vishakhapatnam  Studies on food-chain dynamics to enable informed decision-making on fish stocks and their exploitation are needed  Emphasis on improved technology and infrastructure to minimize post harvest losses needed  Increased use of information and communication and tools (ICT) for awareness building among fishermen in BOBLME area for protection and sustainable exploitation of fishery resources  Promotion of mangrove regeneration  Need for strict implementation of CRZ and MFRA  Development of informed policies to create and govern sustainable and equitable fisheries management regimes  Working towards a compatible policy, legislative, legal and institutional environments in the participating countries to minimize conflicts and achieve the BOBLME objectives of sustainable and equitable use/sharing of marine resources in the BoB.  Bilateral/multilateral/regional understanding on sharing of resources to be developed among countries  There is need for improved legal framework in monitoring and controlling pollution from industries in BOBLME coastal areas

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