Out of Sight and out of Mind – we are lest aware about our marine Ecosystems

It was a sunny day as we ventured out in the sea; we were heading for a snorkeling trip just behind Shivaji's Sindudurgh fort situated in the blue waters of Malvan.
Our boat stopped near some rocks behind the fort, the water was not more than 2 meters deep and the visibility was reasonably good in spite of the strong currents.
We saw fishes like the bullet fish, grouper, Red snappers, zebra fish, butterfly fish and black damsels. But it was not the fishes but the corals which were at the center of my attention; after all they were the ones responsible for the diversity of this unique ecosystem. Corals come in all shapes and colors, one can ever imagine some were round others were flat and there others with shapes I can hardly describe. We passed over a large coral which looked like an underwater bracket fungus with a diameter of more than 5 feet. The water was really shallow and I was able to feel the corals with my feet at some places.

This was an amazing experience, but our trip had a really sad ending.
As we boarded the MTDC boat, the boat man pulled up the anchor and with it uprooted a huge coral which was larger than a foot ball, and instead of feeling sorry about it he picked up the coral as all the MTDC snorkeling guides told him that he will get a good price for it! Don't be shocked, I haven't yet reached the sad ending.

After reaching the Malvan jetty we noticed many shops selling sea shells like spider cones and also corals. We saw the MTDC guides sitting next to the vendors and chatting with them, I am sure that they were helping these vendors get all these marine animals.

I informed the local press about this episode and hopefully the MTDC will try to educate their 'guides' but unfortunately it seems even Malvan is now going the Goa way, were sale of sea shells and corals is almost a cottage industry with entire households employed in their collection, polishing and sale.


But this illegal sale is just a very small part; the big picture is mush worse.
Corals and mangroves support some of the richest ecosystems on the planet earth, they crucial factors shaping marine ecology, they are also economically important as they support fish populations; therefore they are vital for sustainable fisheries (so that you can enjoy a fried fish without guilt 20 years from now). India harvests about 60, 00,000 tones of fisheries products annually it is an industry which supports lakhs of people by providing employment and nourishment. In spite of such benefits marine ecosystems are being wiped out and this clearly indicates that, lack of awareness is a major factor leading to their destruction. Being a BNHS member I really wish that we should have more about this at CEC so that we can do our bit to raise awareness.