In may countries, there is list of species that you can fish from a region. I am not sure whether such a list exists in India.

Can we think of putting a ban on amount that can fish in any given season from a region.

Why can't we provide alternative livelihood option to the fishermen, like value addition of fish products or allied industries.

I saw a cool cartoon called something like "lets change fishtory" that introduced a "balanced" harvesting principle to eco eco-evo sustainability in fisheries

The Misali fishery men in Zanzibar, Tanzania changed to a more sustainable means of fishing (they'd copied gunpowder catching form the colonialists) through faith-based approach to sustainable development

I think spawning is the key - at least for freshwater fish. Today fish don't have the opportunity to reproduce in their natural way. The floodings are rapid and unpredictable and most part of the rivers' floodplains were cut down by dams which mainly affects the phytophil species. Producing artificial spawning habitats could be a good way to boost the fish production but using river floodplains as a hatchery would be better.

Thank you for responding. Like most of you, I too believe that protecting spawning fishes should be on top of the list. Areas of fish spawning and feeding should be declared as Marine protected areas in which fishing is prohibited. This will help replenish the adjacent fishing grounds.

Whole our fisheries history is never ending story of our successes in overexploitation of water resources. For long time we explained this by our poor knowledge in ecology... But now in XXI century the question about sustainable fisheries is rather question about motivations in human behavior. Robbery exploitation of whole natural resources (in waters, in forests, minerals etc.) is observed at each point of Globe. The question is: Can we limit ourselves in overexploitation and degradation of Nature? The answer is rather predictable... There will be dozens of explanations that we cannot limit. Listing of fish species to protection, making of protected areas, preserving of gametes for future, and several other noble propositions are only half-measures. When we declare some fish spawnings as protected, we did not solve the problems of proper size, maturity and genetic structure of worsening spawner stocks, which is regulated by intensive fisheries maybe few kilometers out the protected area. Similarly listing of some species as fully protected is also half-measure, because they will be still caught together with these others not protected. Fishing methods (especially in marine fisheries) are too far from selective catching.

Generally - solution has two keys to use simultaneously (one: real global and local protection of water environment for making proper conditions to life, reproduction and growth of fish populations, and two: real global limitation of harvest from sea and inland waters basing on modern methods of monitoring of spawning stocks, mainly directed on keeping proper size and genetic structure). Both these keys have strongly political character and needs long negotations between interested nations (international level) and local policy makers (inside countries) to prepare minimal consensus. Meanwhile fishes swim crossing borders and administrative zones, without country passports, without feeling about ownership, and with minimal chance to avoid our nets. There is rather shocking truth about fish populations and their protection by us... The best conditions for fish life (e.g. sturgeons, flatfishes, herrings etc.) were during time of human wars (as Russian Civil War, First and Second World War), when fisheries activity at some areas was completely stopped.

1) Fish Aggregating Devices allows different varieties of fish to collect in especially off shore waters.They can be either stationary or drifting,in the latter case it needs to be tracked.Fishermen can then catch the selected varieties from the aggregated ones,through conventional methods. In this way,young ones & berried females can be avoided,giving them chances to breed.

2) Every variety of fish needs to be given at least one chance to breed & therefore they need to be prevented to be caught before its first breeding.Hence depending upon the types of fish available in an area,the mesh size of gill nets needs to be monitored.What exactly happens in fishing operations is that most of the population is in a stage yet to breed & when they are caught,sustaining the next generation solely rests on bigger (older) females.

3) Targeting a fish standing stock needs to be avoided.That is because,when one type is intensively fished,then it creates some sort of vacuum which then gets filled by opportunists which are always lurking in the peripheral region of a fishing area,it gets filled up,its population rises & the scenario changes within a short time.

3) Fishermen need to release young ones ,preferably fingerlings of commercial varieties into sea,enhancing the young stock population. This can be done by their setting up of fish hatcheries along the coast line.

4) Trawling needs to be curtailed in all fishing areas.That is because,they bring in 80% of trash & baby fishes,out of which on a rough estimate,almost 30% belongs to commercial varieties,effecting the future stock of fish.This trash fish doesn't fetch any market value & most of it gets converted into fish manure or poultry feed.This method lengthens the food chain,entailing loss in energy.

5) Where ever possible,traditional fisheries needs to be given greater importance as compared to industrial fisheries.Today the number of active fishermen population engaged in the traditional sector is slowly but steadily declining,as more from the traditional sector are migrating into the industrial sector.We don't have that much of the fish to sustain the industrial sector.Any Govt. whether central or states hears the voice of the industrial rather than the traditional sector, as they are more powerful. So the onus of correcting the situation then rests on Fishery Scientists/Researchers/Environmentalists & the learned.

Many developing countries like India do take the services of FAO experts,but in spite of their presence,the situation has declined.

The art of fisheries to get fish to an eatable size without having your fish eaten by

larger sea creatures. Vertical nets that have small opening to keep large fish

out, and small fish in would help. Maybe horizontal floating nets to keep

the sea birds from eating your fish could also work.

Comprehensive spatial planning is the most obvious way. Leaving some areas un-fished is a simple and effective approach. If fishing is restricted to patches within a continuum, then fish will reproduce in the un-fished areas and can migrate without being removed by fishing gear within the continuum. Preferred spawning habitat for targeted species should lie within the continuum. This approach could be enough on its own, but I would strongly recommend that fishing gears that damage habitat be either banned or limited to very small areas where "weedy" species are routinely harvested. Ideally, size-selective fishing should be avoided, but compliance with this policy is difficult to achieve.