Corollary of Marine Eco-system Sustainability by Addressing the Issues of Bycatches

摘要

The issue of bycatch in the fisheries sector has been a major concern for the marine biologists over few decades in terms of conservation of marine eco-system and sustainability of the fisheries sector and marine biodiversity.As far as the concept of Bycatch is concerned,these are the unwanted species having less commercial importance,which in most of the cases disposed into the seas onboard or are caught during fishing.The article discusses the social,economic,cultural,and environmental impacts in addressing the issue of bycatch.The concern regarding bycatch is relatively new in the horizon in Indian perspective though it is often considered a major issue faced by developed nations since long.The problem of bycatch poses a serious threat to livelihoods and food security as it acts as a precursor to depletion of the food sources for local consumption with adverse social,economic,cultural,and environmental impacts.The adverse effects of by-catch can be mitigated through commercialisation of bycatch and making profits from the sale of bycatch,opening up of new markets for bycatch species or products,uses of bycatch as fishmeal and application of bycatch reduction devices(BRDs).Reorientation of the present monitoring system to collect fisheries data,strengthening technical know-how,bringing effective policy intervention,efficient co-management,and sincere and honest efforts in reducing bycatch and discards may provide a considerable impact towards sustainability of marine eco-system.