VULNERABILITY OF MARINE FISHERMEN TO NATURE-DRIVEN STRESSORS

Abstract

There is an increasing concern over the consequences of global warming and food security. Fishery is one of the worst affected sectors due to the impact of global warming. The livelihood of world’s 36 million fisher folk and nearly 1.5 billion consumers who rely on fish for more than 20% of their dietary animal protein are at risk due to the fact that the global warming make serious impact on the fishery and the livelihood of fishermen (Badjeck, Allison, Hallis, & Dulvy, 2009). As fishermen are often poor, the cash income generated by the sales of fish can give them access to basic goods and services such as education, health, food and other assets (Department of International Development , 2006). Fishery can reduce economic and food vulnerability, but they themselves are vulnerable to external influences such as environmental degradation and climate change (FAO, 2018). These changes influence the coping of fishermen as they want to access the basic goods and services. With the aim of identifying the stressors influencing the fishing occupation of marine fishermen in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India, and how these stressors are encountered with various mechanisms (coping strategies) by those fishermen, this study was conducted by involving 308 such fishermen chosen from the area. The study revealed that “higher the nature-driven stress, lower the resilience of fishermen.