Rapid reservoir fisheries appraisal (r-RAPFISH): Indicator based framework for sustainable fish production in Indian reservoirs

Indian fisheries is a sunrise sector with untapped potential and opportunities. The reservoir fisheries, labelled a sleeping giant due to its locked-up potential, promises to be a game changer while insufficient scientific evidence on its health status impedes development. This study adapts the well-known Rapid Fisheries Appraisal (RAPFISH) technique, a multi-disciplinary framework developed for macro-assessment of marine fisheries, to the micro-level reservoir fishery in a data limiting developing country context. Fundamental differences namely the small bounded reservoir ecosystem versus the large open marine ecosystem, (over)exploited marine fisheries versus underdeveloped reservoir fisheries, homogeneous marine fishers versus heterogeneous reservoir fishers, and the invisible low-profile reservoir fisheries necessitated this adaptation. A rigorous multi-stage procedure with extensive literature review, stakeholders' feedback, statistical validation (Weighted Sum Model and Analytic Hierarchy Process-Like Procedure) followed by field testing in southern India formed the bedrock of this methodological exercise. From a universe of 93 indicators under 6 evaluation fields, the study yielded a reservoir specific RAPFISH with 25 indicators grouped under 5 evaluation fields: ecological, economic, technological, social and governance. The RAPFISH ordination values for Veedur and Pechiparai reservoirs ranged from 35.13% (economic field - ‘poor’ status) to 68.98% (ecology field - ‘good’ status), demonstrating the modified technique's ability to differentiate and demonstrate variability in fisheries studied. The study offers r-RAPFISH as a customised tool for researchers in Asia and Africa to assess the health of reservoir fisheries and plan interventions to help achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of no poverty (SDG - 1), no hunger (SDG - 2) and life below water (SDG - 14) through sustainable inland fisheries.