COMMUNITY-BASED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT (CBFM) THROUGH SHGS IN VEMBANAD LAKE, KERALA

A group of fishermen of Alappuzha district, Mannanchery gramapanchayath willingly came forward with a broad vision on the conservation of Vembanad lake.  They took the initiative of the conservation and management of Vembanad Lake through installing Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) in the lake. The FADs designed according to the traditional wisdom of the fisherfolk act as fish sanctuaries. This study described Community-Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) in Vembanad Lake through Self Help Group (SHG) mobilized by NGO.  The study was carried out in Mannanchery village of Alappuzha district, Kerala. In Mannanchery, five SHGs were formed by a NGO, each SHG containing 10 fishermen as members. A sample of 50 SHG members was selected as respondents following random sampling procedure. Data from the respondents were collected through personnel interview. This study was attempted to furnish the attitude of SHG members towards the CBFM. The attitude of respondents towards CBFM was also quantified. It was observed that the SHG members involved in the FAD ventures had a positive attitude towards CBFM. Kendall's W test was conducted for assessing agreement among the SHG members. The results of the Kendall's W test (W = 0.762) revealed that the respondents agree with each other to a reasonable but not super high extent. Level of participation of the members was assessed. The accomplishment of strategies like the implementation of norms, sensitization programmes, and management of FADs were done by SHG members.  This study argued that CBFM through SHGs could contribute to sustainable lake management. The findings unveiled that CBFM could be a vehicle which contributes to sustainable environmental management through SHGs.