India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives have joined hands to study how changing weather and sea conditions are affecting fish stocks in the Bay of Bengal, IANS reported from Kochi on Thursday, November 5.

Source: IANS via The Freedom Press

The new network, the Bay of Bengal Network of Ocean Researchers for Fisheries (BOB-NOR), was launched at an international meeting hosted by the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CMFRI), on the sidelines of an international symposium on fisheries and remote sensing, The Hindu BusinessLine reported. The meeting also brought together leading oceanographers and marine scientists from the US, Brazil, Chile, Portugal, the UK and Greece.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

What the network will do

BOB-NOR will bring together ocean researchers, fisheries scientists and experts from the participating countries to integrate satellite observations, oceanographic surveys, climate indicators and fisheries data. It will examine how changes in sea temperature, monsoon patterns, salinity, ocean productivity and currents influence fish distribution, migration, recruitment and abundance, BusinessLine reported, adding that the initiative aims to promote predictive, climate-informed fisheries management, moving beyond conventional catch-based assessments.

The network is coordinated by the Bay of Bengal Programme Inter-Governmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO), IANS reported. Its director, P. Krishnan, said BOB-NOR would bridge the gap between oceanographic research and fisheries management by bringing together researchers and experts from Bay of Bengal countries and promoting the use of ocean observations for informed management, according to BusinessLine.

A model for evidence-based management

The Union Department of Fisheries hosted the event, with support from GEO Blue Planet and the Trevor Platt Science Foundation. Surabhi Rai, Joint Secretary in the Union Department of Fisheries, said the initiative could become a model for science-based fisheries management in other parts of the world, IANS reported.

B. Meenakumari, former Deputy Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), said data-driven management was essential in the face of changing ocean conditions, and that reliable, timely advisories supported by parameters such as sea surface temperature were crucial to helping fishers make informed decisions, BusinessLine reported.