Forecasting with Fishers: Co-Producing Weather Knowledge with Artsanal Fishers of the Southwest Indian Coast : Events : ... : Sussex Asia Centre : University of Sussex

Forecasting with Fishers: Co-Producing Weather Knowledge with Artsanal Fishers of the Southwest Indian Coast

Wednesday 2 October 13:00 until 14:30

Arts C233

Speaker: Maxmilan Martin

Part of the series: Asia Centre Seminar Series

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Asia Centre Seminar Series 2019

Please join us for the first of this Autumn's Asia Centre Seminar Series, in Arts C233 on October the 2nd from 13:00-14:30.

Maxmillan Martin, from the University of Sussex, will be presenting "Forecasting with Fishers: Co-Producing Weather Knowledge with Artsanal Fishers of the Southwest Indian Coast"

Please see the attached post for more details about the rest of the series.

Abstract

Accurate, accessible, and actionable forecasts can reduce weather-related accidents in fishing, the world’s riskiest job. Along the southwestern coast of India inhabited by poor artisanal fishers, such accidents are frequent during the monsoon season (June – September) when high wind and large waves make fishing in the Arabian Sea risky. A Sussex team[i] explored ways to improve forecasts by studying: i) Local hazard risks, ii) the decision-making process involved in fishing; and iii) ways to co-produce risk communication with fishers and forecasters. We worked closely with Indian forecasters and scientists[ii]. On the 78 km coast of Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala state, we studied eight fishing villages over the monsoon seasons of 2018 and 2019 using mixed methods – weather forecasts, instrument observation of wind and waves, fishing logs, interviews and focus groups.

Our key findings include:

i) Fishers seek and use multiple forecast sources; and compare forecasts with their traditional knowledge and direct observation of the sea and the sky to decide when to go fishing.

ii) While forecasters do not miss major weather events, they often issue false alarms, restricting fishing.

iii) Fishing decisions seem to be driven by the availability (and scarcity) of fish more than anything else

We recommend that forecasters and fishers interact closely to share experiences, knowledge, weather outlook, and challenges they face. Such co-production of weather knowledge can contribute to more useful forecasts for safe and sustainable fishing.

Funding: 2018 – 2019 Sussex Sustainability Research Programme; 2019 Royal Geographical Society

Bibliography:

Crate, S.A. (2011) Climate and Culture: Anthropology in the Era of Contemporary Climate Change, Annual Review of Anthropology 40:175–94

Hov, Ø., Terblanche, D., Carmichael, G., Jones, S., Ruti, P. M. (2017) Five priorities for weather and climate research, Nature 552: 168-170.

Lemos, M.C., Kirchhoff, C. J. and Ramprasad, V. (2012) Narrowing the climate information usability gap, Nature Climate Change 2: 789–794.

Phaedra, D. (2015) Masters of Uncertainty: Weather Forecasters and the Quest for Ground Truth, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press

Max Martin is a research associate at the School of Global Studies. He is a geographer studying people’s interface with weather, climate and the environment. His publications include Climate, Environmental Hazards and Migration in Bangladesh (Routledge 2018), and Geography in Britain after World War II – Nature, Climate, and the Etchings of Time (Palgrave, in print, co-edited with V. Damodaran and R. D’Souza).

[i] The Sussex team: F Osella (principaI investigator) & R Stirrat (anthropology), K Howland (informatics), P Rowhani & M Martin (geography).

[ii] Indian collaborators: India Meteorological Department – S Balachandran & NT Niyas (meteorology). Cochin University of Science and Technology – S Abhilash & Vijayakumar P (atmospheric sciences). Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services – R Harikumar (ocean sciences). Independent expert V Salagrama (fisheries). State Disaster Management Authority – SL Kuriakose (disaster management). B Chiramel SJ (sociology) and colleagues at Sneharam Centre for Social Action and Research, Anjengo.

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Last updated: Thursday, 26 September 2019

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