Co-management Paradigm and Sociological Issues in Fishery Management Regime in the Indian Context : A Perspective on Re-invigoration In: ICAR Sponsored Winter School on Recent Advances in Fishery Biology Techniques for Biodiversity Evaluation and Conservation, 1-21 December 2018, Kochi.

There is a query which often becomes prominent and conspicuous, while speaking about the present fishery management system prevailing in a developing country like India. Do the fishery management regime and legal aspects in the Indian context require a reinvigoration? The answer for the question is in a way ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to be exact. It is likely to be a debatable issue highlighting both affirmative and negative sides in the strict literal sense. Rather than exploring the intricacies of the meaning of ‘re-invigoration’ with a surgical postmortem approach, this paper is a simple and subtle effort on addressing the sociological issues by harnessing the paradigm of co-management ultimately for augmenting the fishery management perspective in the Indian context. It is a truth that, in the scenario of Indian Fisheries Management regime, the ‘questions’ are very tough and timid, but answers are so simple and known to everyone, though the impediment is the practical implementation part. The open access regime prevailing in the harvesting of marine fishery resources in our country warrants stronger emphasis on invoking technological innovations as well as management paradigms that reconcile livelihood issues with concerns on resource conservation. It is a truth that, innovations do not emerge in a socio-political vacuum. Definitely it is the extent of partnership between the research and the client system that decides the fate of any technology in terms of its adoption or rejection. Judicious and rational utilization of common property resources for sustainable development without endangering the environment is possible through community participation. For more than 6 million fishers and fish farmers, fisheries are a source of livelihood in India. Fisheries sector has recorded faster growth as compared to the agricultural sector in all the decades and is contributing in a significant way to the economic growth of the nation. The vast Exclusive Economic Zone of 2.02 million sq. km of ocean under the possession of India is more than two third of its land area. Marine fishing has been considered a primary livelihood option since time immemorial, for the occupants of the coastal belts of the country