Ramappa, Prashanth

Coastal regions across India and especially in Karnataka face numerous challenges from blue economic expansions, erratic weather, competition in the sea, and coastal erosion. These, especially impact the small-scale fisher men and women disproportionately. Expansion of ports, harbors, Marine Protected Areas, eco-tourism, hotels and resorts etc., directly impact the small-scale fishers shrinking their space of activities. Coastal erosion leads to loss of space that was traditionally used for fish drying activities and dwellings. Competition with the ever growing large-scale fishers has reduced the per capita availability of fish impacting the livelihood of the small-scale fishers. Shift in fish utilization towards fishmeal industry has led to less availability of fish for the women engaged in fish processing and trading activities. In addition, coastal aquaculture, cage culture in the estuaries further shrink the commons favoring the private interest. Amidst these dispossessions, how do the coastal communities respond to the changing scenario is an inquisitive question. In this presentation, through the field engagement in a few select villages of coastal Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India we intend to explore and present how communities view these changes; how to they respond to such changes; and how does stewardship play any role in collective response of the community to mitigate such challenges.