GREETINGS

MARINE ECOLOGIST DIVYA KARNAD IS THE FIRST INDIAN WOMAN TO WIN THE PRESTIGIOUS ‘FUTURE FOR NATURE AWARD’

up catching a lot of turtles in their nets, and if brought to the shore, they were penalised as Olive Ridley Turtles are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act,” narrates Divya. This made fishermen refrain from fishing for about four to five months, which adversely impacted their already meagre earnings. “For a person interested in conserving turtles, this was a difficult conversation and it made me think about sustainable fishing. Also, fishing seemed to be the larger problem that was plaguing the seas, because over-fishing was impacting several marine species. So I realised that I could kill two birds with one stone if I focussed on sustainable fishing. And this is what I ended up doing my PhD on,” says the Rutgers University alumnus. InSeason Fish draws heavily from her PhD work findings, which informed her about conversations surrounding sustainable fishing practices, but also led to the realisation that Indian fishermen were finding it hard to practice sustainable methods in the country’s tropical seas.

“There’s a lot of diversity in India’s water bodies, and fishermen practicing sustainable fishing end up catching varieties of seasonal fish. However, the market is not receptive to this kind of catch as there is a high demand for only certain species. I started InSeason Fish to tackle this problem in the supply chain and talk about how, if we wanted to save our seas, not just fishermen, but even consumers have to think about sustainability and act on it,” says the marine ecologist. The project strives to bring about this mindset change by encouraging people to “Eat Seasonal, eat diverse and support small-scale fishermen who are interested in sustainability,” says Divya.

To achieve these goals, Divya and her team work with local housewives and restaurant chefs to create a virtual recipe book of local recipes for seasonal fish. They also conduct ‘Fishsplorations’ in multiple cities, during which consumers are encouraged to explore fish markets or fish landing sites and are trained to find out whether the fish they are buying has been sustainably sourced or not. “Wherever possible, we try to introduce them directly to the fishermen who are fishing sustainably, because the goal is to bridge the gap between fishermen and consumers,” Divya informs us. The InSeason Fish team also conduct workshops with chefs to familiarise them with indigenous, seasonal fish species and the local ingredients they can be paired with. Here again, the goal is to connect restaurant owners and chefs with people from the sustainable fishing community. Additionally, InSeason Fish has conducted sustainable seafood pop-up dinners, like the one in Mumbai, called the ‘Danda Food Project’ (After Khar Danda market) and have also helped restaurants create

seasonal seafood menus and source from small-scale fishermen.

Despite these efforts, Divya believes that a lot more needs to be done if we want to save our seas, especially in India. Underscoring how Indian fisheries are in a grave state, the marine ecologist says, “Our fisheries reached their peak of fish catch in the 1990s. Ever since then, they’ve been on a decline. As more people turn towards healthy food choices, there’s going to be even more pressure on the marine ecosystem to provide food. The sea is the best place to source organisms that provide relatively cheap protein and can be enjoyed by both high and low-income groups. So the thought that we are losing this crucial food reserve at such a fast rate is extremely scary.”

Apart from the purpose of sustenance, Divya highlights how preserving marine organisms are crucial to saving the entire planet. “All these organisms that are part of the sea are maintaining ecosystems. If we remove these organisms, we don’t know to what extent it will speed up the effects of global warming. To think that we can pull out certain parts of the puzzle and believe that the rest of the puzzle will be okay is a bit shortsighted,” she says and adds that she is determined to use the recognition gained by the Award to further her conservation efforts by implementing more field-based programs, and reminding people that there will always be ‘other fish in the sea’. fish