Across the country’s coastline, small pockets of water are being transformed into lush marine ecosystems. Modest concrete structures dropped to the seabed are drawing fish back to depleted waters, and giving traditional fishers a lifeline.

The timing could not be more critical. Falling catches, rising fuel prices and shrinking coastal fish stocks have pushed the fisheries sector into a deepening livelihood crisis. Climate change and increased cyclonic activity have further reduced fishing days. Warming seas have driven familiar local fish species away, replacing them with unfamiliar varieties that often end up in fishmeal factories rather than on dinner tables. Intensive fishing and the surging demand for forage fish, sardines, mackerel, anchovies, to feed aquaculture have only added to the pressure on already stressed ecosystems.

To address this, coastal states and union territories are installing artificial reefs: Small concrete conical, tubular structures and platforms placed three to five kilometres off the coast. Within three to six months of installation, these structures become thriving marine environments, drawing fish, crustaceans and even large marine mammals.

The programme is implemented through state fisheries departments using a model developed by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute. Scientists identify suitable sites, focusing on areas with low marine activity and avoiding zones where fish wealth is already abundant. In the last two years, 1,500 reef sites have been completed off the coasts of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Another 1,000 sites are expected to come up in the coming months.

The benefits for fishers are tangible. “Reef fishing has considerably reduced scouting time and diesel consumption, while the quality of fish caught has induced higher demand and better prices in local markets,” said Joe K Kizhakudan, principal scientist and head of CMFRI’s regional centre in Visakhapatnam. Fishers can return earlier in the day and sell fresher catch.

A well-spread reef area with 200 to 250 modules can support 25 to 30 fishing boats simultaneously, though only hook-and-line or gillnet fishing is permitted. Fishers have flagged one recurring problem: Gillnets tend to get entangled in the structures.

For Freddy Joseph of Puthiyathura, a fisherman, artificial reefs are not entirely new. He recalls earlier installations in the 2000s, placed around 2.5km from shore and accessible to catamaran fishers. But those sank without follow-up.

His counterpart Varghese Malkiyar from Pozhiyoor notes that the new reefs, installed more than five kilometres out, are less economical for small boat operators. “When it is installed near the coast, it is economically beneficial for us,” he said. Site selection, both men agree, is critical. Proximity to trawler routes was a problem with earlier reefs, iron-bottomed trawlers would tear structures apart.

Data from reef sites backs the case for the programme. According to a case study in Sulerikattukuppam, Tamil Nadu, fish landings improved after reef deployment, particularly for perches and carangids. Across 80% of sites nationally, sustained breeding populations of sweetlips, groupers, snappers, mackerel, crabs and shrimps have been recorded. CMFRI director Grinson George noted that the ecological revival has been dramatic enough to attract whales and dolphins to reef areas.

Community involvement, conservationists stress, is what makes the difference. “As long as the community is involved, it will be a success,” said Robert Panipilla of Friends of Marine Life, though he flagged the ghost net problem from gillnet use as a concern.
Funded through the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, the programme is now eyeing private participation, through CSR funding and models such as Own a Reef, Adopt a Reef and Ranch a Reef, as the next step towards building long-term coastal resilience.

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