Alappuzha, India, Feb 27.
Flocks of storks and cormorants perched on bamboo stilts peer into the blue-black depths of Vembanad Lake in India’s southwest Kerala state, searching hungrily for food.
“Around 200 fish pairs are breeding here, which is why predator birds are hanging around,” said KV Dineshan, steering his canoe towards the tennis court-sized fish sanctuary, a fertile oasis in the degraded lake located in a Ramsar-protected wetland.
A barrage built by the state government divides the lake’s 36,000 hectares (88,958 acres) in two: the northern part has brackish water all year round, while the southern half is fed with fresh water from rivers and seawater is shut out from December to April, allowing rice to be grown.
But grave challenges face the 7,500 fishermen like Dineshan who make a living from the southern part of the lake, which covers 13,000 hectares. They are struggling with low salinity which harms shellfish reproduction, water stagnation, pollution and agro-chemical run-off.
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