Climate crisis, shrinking fishing days calls for diversification, women’s empowerment: CMFRI Director

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Women harvest clams using traditional methods in the waterlogged Pokkali fields of Kadamakudy near Ernakulam. | Photo Credit: Nithin_RK

The climate crisis and declining fishing days has underlined the need to diversify marine livelihoods and empower women through gender-inclusive mariculture technologies, said Grinson George, Director, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi.

The number of fishing days had declined from around 200 to nearly 110 over the past four years owing to adverse climatic conditions, highlighting the growing vulnerability of the sector, he said while delivering the 21st Dr K.N. Shyamasundaran Nair Memorial Endowment Lecture at the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) campus at Vellanikkara.

He pointed out that coastal women, who constitute a major workforce in post-harvest fisheries, remained under-represented in primary production and ownership.

Speaking on “Farming the Oceans, Empowering Women: Gender Inclusivity in Mariculture Technologies”, George said aquaculture had overtaken capture fisheries globally for the first time. The CMFRI’s Science, Technology and Innovation Hub could serve as a model for enabling women to move from participation to leadership, he said and pointied to the support extended to a transgender entrepreneur in Kerala.

Women-led seaweed initiatives in Lakshadweep, Andhra Pradesh and Mandapam in Tamil Nadu were also examples of the emerging shift towards greater gender inclusivity in mariculture, he said.

Published on September 11, 2026

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