Assessing sustainability, livelihoods, and benefits of Marine Fishery Advisory services in Odisha, India

Marine Fishery Advisories (MFAs) in the form of Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisories, developed and disseminated by the Earth System Science Organization—Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (ESSO-INCOIS), predict short-term fish aggregation zones in the open sea for the fishing community except during fishing ban periods in India. Hence, MFAs have the potential to enhance the economic benefits for marine fishers due to the reduction in the search time during fishing, which ultimately decreases fuel (e.g., diesel) consumption. Considering these potential advantages, the present study is designed to investigate the economic benefits in terms of reductions in the diesel consumption for the mechanized (MC) fishing sector in selected Fish Landing Centers (FLCs) and Fishing Harbors (FHs) across the coastal districts of Odisha based on stratified sampling. A comparative analysis was carried out on fishing expeditions in the PFZ Notified Area (PNA) and Non-Notified Area (NNA) based on a field survey conducted among marine fishers across these FLCs/FHs operated by MC fishing craft during 2020–21. It was found from the present investigation that the average daily fishing expenditure can be reduced from INR 36,000 to INR 19,000 due to the usage of MFAs, which implies an approximate 45% reduction in daily spending on fishing expeditions. Moreover, the catch per unit effort (CPUE) and net profits of the fishers according to the present analysis provide an overall picture of the MFA usage and economic benefits. The reduction in the fishing expenditure owing to the lower fuel consumption using MFAs are directly associated with sustainable fishing practices, which are also connected with co-targets such as fish stock preservation and maintaining an acceptable ecosystem health under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14. Furthermore, the societal impacts due to the use of MFAs on the fishing community were also studied through a lifecycle assessment. The present investigation illustrated the multiple ecosystem and human co-benefits associated with the reduction in search time through the utilization of MFAs, which can be invested into making fishery operations sustainable for all stakeholders.