India’s Huge Artificial Reef Rollout May Cause More Harm Than Good

[By Haritha John]

Kasimedu is one of the largest and busiest fishing villages in Chennai, on the south-eastern coast of India. On one side of the port, large trawlers bring in substantial catches. On the other are moored small fiberglass boats belonging to fishers who rely on traditional methods, such as rod-and-line and occasionally nets.

Jayakumar, a leader in a local fishers’ association, highlights the challenges faced by traditional fishers: “It’s impossible for small fiber-boat fishermen to compete with large mechanized boats. When we used to go deep-sea fishing, the trawl boats would sweep up all the fish. Many traditional fishermen had to give up and work as laborers on trawl boats.”

To try and address this problem, 200 pieces of concrete were submerged at two coastal sites near Kasimedu in 2022 by the Participatory Learning Action Network and Training (Plant) group. The concrete was colonized by algae, shellfish and coral. Small fish and crustaceans shelter among them, attracting larger, predatory fish to these artificial reefs.

“After the reefs were installed, we no longer needed to go into the deep sea to find high-market-value fish, like kingfish and trevally,” says Arumugam, another local fisher. “I’m also able to save on fuel daily, as my boat doesn’t have to venture far for a good catch. There’s been a noticeable change in our income since the reefs were placed.”

Kasimedu is one of 25 fishing villages in Tamil Nadu where Plant has installed artificial reefs offshore. A conservation and social development organisation, Plant was founded by RT Suresh and is funded by the UN Development Programme, the Australian Embassy and The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri).