Anthropocene Impacts on Marine Fishers: South Odisha Coast, India

Abstract

This work envisages reporting, detailing, and analyzing the fisher's villages and the fisher's community along the South Odisha coast extending from the Konark (Puri) to Sonapur (Ganjam). The hardworking fisher’s community residing in shanty clusters are economically, politically and socially disadvantaged. They face the challenges of devastating floods, droughts, erosions, high waves, and cyclones consequential in low catch, resulting in migration or marginalization. The silent combat between orthodox fishing practices and the modern method of synthetic boats/nets has challenged their livelihood, catch, and resources. About 27 coastal villages were surveyed.  The primary data are gathered through questionnaires, interactions and focused group discussions by sampling methods. The secondary latest data is collected from electronic resources, and past literature was analyzed, The lack of infrastructure, and plastic fishing crafts, banned during mass nesting put the fishers in poverty. The unhealthy living conditions, low economy settings, and non-application of IoT lack of circular economy worsen the setting. Illiteracy, gender parity, nonadaptation of technology and language problems mechanization of fishing art, modernization, societal innovations and the financial assistance for the ban period and adaptation of circular economy, adaptation of sustainability measures can improve their social status.