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Paper short abstract:

India's marine fishing communities, providers of nutrient-rich superfoods are challenged by market forces towards export orientation. Local movements lead to greater sovereignty over ecology, technology and organisation. Also reshape global networks to prioritize sustainability and local well-being.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation delves into the dynamics surrounding artisanal marine fishing communities in India, positioned within the lower strata of the country's caste hierarchy. Historically, they played a pivotal role supplying locally consumed, low-cost, super-foods, rich in protein and micro-nutrients.

Fish is a highly traded commodity because it highly perishable and fishers cannot live by fish alone. Hence, even at very low levels of productivity of the producer, market forces, dominated by merchant capital hold sway through interlocking of the credit and product market. An exploitative situation affecting the overall income and well-being of fishing communities results.

Complicating matters, post-Independence fisheries development plans were dominated by upper caste scientists and policy makers conditioned by western ideas. They failed to acknowledge the fund of knowledge and the merits of ecologically sophisticated technologies of these communities. They imposed industrial modes of harvesting technology from the temperate ecosystems, which were inappropriate to our tropical seas.

A 1960s economic crisis prompted policymakers to pursue export-driven fisheries for quick foreign exchange. This led to an influx of external investment and large-scale modern harvesting technologies, resulting in ecological disaster and socio-economic decline for traditional fishers within two decades.

Indian fishworkers—both men and women—launched socio-ecological movements in the 1980s, protesting inappropriate technology and excessive export focus. This movement revived interest in small-scale, decentralized technology, promoting resource co-management and prioritizing local markets for employment and food security.

Originally local, this initiative transcended national borders, culminating in a "glocal" amalgamation. This fusion harnessed alternative transnational networks' resilience, aligning with national fishworker organizations' aspirations and visions.