“I’ve always been a naturalist,” admits Aaron Savio Lobo. Growing up, he kept a range of pets including snakes, toads, turtles and fish. What first piqued his interest in the marine world was his early exposure to the ‘koli’ fishermen, in Juhu, Mumbai, where he spent his early childhood years. Says Aaron, “I would hold puffer fish and watch them blow up in my hand and take great interest in a whole range of critters, including moray eels, octopus and crabs that were stranded in rocky pools at low tide.”
Later, his actual foray into marine conservation happened incidentally while doing his Masters at the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun, during which he had to hop on to trawlers to study sea snakes that were caught in trawlers, by default. This gave him his first glimpse into the true cost and dynamics of our seafood production. He later went on to do his PhD in marine conservation from Cambridge University, UK. Aaron explains, “Even while working on bigger development projects, I was horrified to see that along with a haul of fish, these fine mesh nets would scoop the entire sea floor and bring with it corals, crustaceans, jelly fish, sea cucumbers, rays and turtles, which were the bycatch. Most of this was earlier discarded. Today, a lot of this is being dried and pulped as poultry feed.” This kind of fishing has immense spin offs on the marine ecosystems. It also has had adverse effects on traditional fisheries, many of whose livelihoods were threatened and lost by this high volume, unselective and destructive fishing practise.
Says Aaron, “Fish itself is a limited and ‘wild’ resource and we first need to realise that. The ocean is not a bottomless resource pit. We need to conserve and manage it in consultation with the communities that are dependent on it. If we continue on our current trajectory, it will get increasingly difficult to feed our growing population.”
Pollution from marine debris and sewage are among the greatest threats facing the oceans. This includes plastics, metal, paper and rubber. Along with industrial waste and effluents, it doesn’t make a good mix for healthy fish protein on our plate. As an artistic metaphor for the damage we’re doing to our oceans, Aaron was also involved in conceptualising the giant mudskipper, named Kheldho (an Indo-German Biodiversity Programme initiative), as a float for the Goa Carnival last year. He is emphatic when he states, “Kheldo as an idea came about as the mudskipper fish represents a balance between two worlds – land and sea – with a message that what we do in one affects (sometimes irrevocably) the other and vice versa. So, what we throw in the ocean ultimately comes back to us as seafood on our plates.”
Elucidating the importance of being connected with nature, from an early age, Aaron says, “Problems arise when we are disconnected. Unless you are exposed to nature, why would you be bothered about its unique correlation to our lives?
Unmanaged tourism and urban development has also had its effect on Goa with the destruction of mangroves and faulty fishing practises. Tolling the warning bell, Aaron says, “Mangroves are buffers between the land and sea besides being a breeding ground for a number of marine organisms including shrimp, crab and fish species. Loss of mangroves not only affects us directly but there are economic repercussions through loss of fishing industry.”
As severe as it may sound, Aaron is optimistic about Goa and says, “Goa gives us an opportunity to experience a lot in a small space. We have high levels of awareness here. We have to look at novel methods to farm fish as a way to reduce pressure on the sea but yet produce food for the masses.”
On being asked if he eats fish at all, Aaron quickly responds, “Of course, I do. I believe developing a healthy relationship and understanding of our seafood can help foster a connect with our oceans, particularly since our seafood depends on it. We should be eating a diversity of fish especially smaller sardines rather than exclusively eating boneless fillets that often come from large predatory fish like red snapper and sea bass. Removal of these predators can have a serious consequence to the ocean. Besides, they often contain higher levels of heavy metals making it unsafe for consumption as well.”
When asked about the opportunities in marine conservation, Aaron positively says, “The opportunities are immense and one doesn’t have to be an academician alone. You can work with conservation NGOs. Even as a layperson, sustainability should be a part of our everyday discussion and entrenched at a deeper level.” He continues, “We need to question where our food comes from,” and with a laugh adds, “particularly the ones with an ‘eco’ and ‘organic’ label.”
We may have taught men to fish for life but it’s getting obvious that if we don’t stop and pay attention to conserving the ocean, we may be left with a plate of xit and no kodi!
