Effectiveness of Institutional Arrangements for Delivery of Potential Fishing Zone and Ocean State Forecast Advisory Services to Fishers in Tamil Nadu

For the welfare of fishers, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, generates three major information services, namely Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisories, Ocean State Forecast (OSF) advisories, and Species-specific advisories — Tuna Fishery Forecast System (TUFFS). In this paper, the effectiveness of various institutional arrangements has been studied at the grassroots level for the provision of advisory services of INCOIS to fishers in terms of generating awareness, and ensuring regular access and usage among the fishers of Tamil Nadu. The study has revealed that among the institutional arrangements, government organisations (DOF)-led initiatives are less effective but more sustainable, whereas non-governmental organisations (NGOs)-led initiatives are more effective but less sustainable, as they critically depend on the external funding support. Awareness on and usage of OSF and PFZ advisories are positively correlated with the level of education. The usage of PFZ advisory is negatively correlated with the type of craft owned, whereas a lower level of usage is associated among the mechanized fishers. The presence of service providers as well as its frequency of service delivery have been found to be the most important factors with respect to awareness on and usage of PFZ advisory services. The study has inferred that measures like effective public-private partnership, validating and integrating local needs through community participation, and usage of most effective ICT tools like mobile phones will further strengthen the institutional arrangements and ensure effective service delivery in this area.