KOCHI: In the wake of cyclone Ockhi, the international symposium on Societal Applications in Fisheries and Aquaculture using Remote Sensing Imagery (SAFARI) will host a special session to discuss the ways and means to improve the weather warning system for fishermen in Kerala. The event will be organised by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in Kochi from January 15 to 17.
Fishermen, experts from Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), scientists from the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service (INCOIS), Hyderabad and officials from the Department of Fisheries will converge at the meet to analyse the efficacy of the system. The meeting will also propose the required amendments for improving the facility.
The meet is generally aimed at strengthening the dissemination mechanism of cyclone forecasts into the fishermen, besides creating awareness among them about the existing facilities in this regard, including online and mobile app services.
“The session will set a platform where the scientific and fishermen communities could share their views and suggestions for boosting the communication mechanism to reduce the calamities following the natural disasters like Ockhi,” said Dr A Gopalakrishnan, director of CMFRI. The meet will help gather inputs from different stakeholders to make the system more effective, he said. “Fishermen, who really are at the receiving end of such disasters, will have a set of suggestions out of their experiences they are going through”, he added.
Dr Gopalakrishnan opined that majority of the fishermen in Kerala are unaware of the weather forecasting services provided by many agencies. “It is quite evident that many of forecasting facilities are not directly reaching out to the targeted community. The mobile app services for weather forecasting, ocean states and potential fishing zone are not successful in Kerala, while those are a hit in many other states”, he added.
The session will also deal with the issues related to the conflicts between fishermen and other navigators in the sea. The meet will look into resolve the issue of unceasing conflicts being occurred in the sea over the sea routes and protected areas in the waters. Towards this, discussion will be held on marine spatial planning conducted by the CMFRI to locate the fishing areas, navigational channels and protected areas distinctively in the open sea waters.