The study has been carried out in a Riverine Island of the Ganges River in Chapai Nawabganj District of Bangladesh to evaluate the livelihood status and the association between different livelihood capitals and well-being status. Both qualitative and quantitative data are collected through household questionnaire survey and field observation. Most of the surveyed households are found either poor or hard core poor. This study identified five capitals of livelihood i.e. human, social, natural, financial and physical capitals with specific indicators. Family size and education indicators of human capital, organizational attachment of social capital, total and operational land of natural capital, value of livestock, size of savings and loan of financial capital and mobile phone of physical capital are statistically significant with the well-being status. This means higher value of indicators indicate higher the well-being status. Hence, this study assumes that most of the char dwellers are poor or hard core poor because their livelihood capitals and assets are not in satisfactory level. This study suggests providing necessary institutional and organizational supports for strengthening the livelihood of char dwellers. J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 11(1-2): 27-36 2018

Climate change is a global challenge today, with its impacts felt worldwide. The coastal regions around globe are more prone to the impacts of climate change than the inlands, fishing being one of the primary occupations of the coast, the fishermen community is the most vulnerable group to be affected by the climate change. Even with extensive scientific research in this arena there is a lacuna in finding a panacea to this existing problem. The objective of this study is to determine the scope of developing village level adaptation and mitigation plan for the community through a comprehensive analysis of the community perception on climate change impacts, vulnerability and existing adaptation mitigation strategies. In the chosen study villages of Ochanthuruth and Narakkal of Ernakulam district, the impact of climate change was felt on both resource and resource users based on a perception analysis made using comprehensive interview schedule administered across 300 households. The study revealed that the actual science and consequences of climate change impacts in a long run are not perceived well. The work suggests that concerted efforts in bringing about resilient community can be achieved through global understanding of the issue and coming up with area specific solutions with the inclusion of the much forgotten social factor-the stakeholders..

Climate change, a global challenge facing mankind necessitates governments to develop mitigation and adaptation plans. The climate change has multidimensional impacts on environment, fishery, social, economic and development drivers.  Climate change hot spots –can be defined as the ‘live labs’ where the manifestation of the climate change impacts is observed “first”. The South west India has been recognised as one among the twenty four hot spot regions identified globally. The present paper assessed the climate change vulnerability of over 800 fisher households in two major fishing villages of Kerala from the south west hotspot regions of India. Exposure (E), Sensitivity (S) and Adaptive Capacity (AC) are the pertinent factors that determine the vulnerability of households which were captured using a structured household questionnaire. One ninety eight  indicators were identified in the construction of vulnerability indices of which 37 related to sensitivity, 36 related to exposure and the other 125 indicators dealt with adaptive capacity. The overall vulnerability of the regions was assessed and the analysis revealed that the Poonthura village of Kerala was more vulnerable when compared to Elamkunnapuzha. The coastal population on their vulnerability scores were categorised into low, moderate, high and very high based on score values and geo-spatial analysis was attempted.  The results revealed that majority of fisher households in both villages were highly vulnerable to climate change, which is a major cause of concern. The study advocates the need for a bottom up approach with the proactive participation of the fishers in developing location specific adaptation and mitigation plans to ensure the livelihood of the fishers and the sustainable development of the fisheries sector in the climate change regime.

Gastropods used both for decorative and edible purposes are a valuable resource along the east and west coast of India and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Even though the molluscan production in India was comparatively insignificant in earlier times, it increased due to the demand for edible as well as ornamental gastropods from around the globe coupled with their importance in generating additional income as a bycatch. The Shakthikulangara and Neendakara landing centres of the Kollam district of Kerala ranks among the major gastropod landing centres along the west coast of India. Based on the cost and earnings analysed from the primary data collected from Shakthikulangara and Neendakara area, various productivity ratios are analysed which indicates that the fishing for gastropods registered a shift in operations from harvesting as a by-catch resource to targeted fishing. The study reveals the scope of gastropod fishery in Kerala as well as the lack of shellcraft industry in the state. Also, the reduced availability of gastropods due to the extensive exploitation is investigated.

Transnational crime is a crime that crosses national borders where the crime puts the country at risk. One of them is illegal fishing activities, namely fishing activities by exceeding the limits of the procedure, using illegal fishing gear, or catching beyond the specified limit. In Indonesia, these events often occur in Indonesian waters, especially in border areas where the perpetrators are foreign fishermen. As a state security institution, the Indonesian Navy is highly focused on dealing with illegal fishing. It is the Indonesian National Army, the Navy, and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries that the Government hopes can handle it. However, other institutions have the same role as the Fisheries Civil Service Investigator (PPNS). This article has succeeded in providing another perspective on Manuel Castells' concept of information.