How technological intervention will aid in enhancing the livelihood of fishermen? Explain with suitable examples.

Technological interventions can aid in enhancing livelihood opportunities by filling the gaps in operations. The two marine information dissemination products Gemini and new potential fishing zones (PFZ) launched by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services in association with Airport Authority of India (AAI) are classical examples.

Gemini

GEMINI (GAGAN Enabled Mariner’s Instrument for Navigation and Information) system has been developed by utilising GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) satellite systems of the AAI to transmit PFZ and disaster warnings to the fishermen.

The GEMINI system has data coverage of the entire Indian Ocean Region. This will help in information transmission to the fishermen who are far away from coastal areas. The need of such a system was felt during the 2017 Ockhi cyclone wherein there was no way to communicate the cyclone warning to fishermen who had gone out for deep-sea fishing before the onset of the cyclone. As a result, eighty-nine fishermen were killed and 143 had gone missing in Kerala alone.

How GEMINI Works?

GEMINI is a portable device. It receives data from the GAGAN satellites and sends it to the user’s cellphone. The GEMINI app on the cellphone decodes the signals from GEMINI device and alerts the user on imminent threats like cyclones, high waves, strong winds along with PFZ and search and rescue mission.

New PFZ Forecast Model

The new PFZ forecast model will help the fishermen in forecasting potential fishing zones. Currently, the fishermen used to get data on that day are fishing zones by the evening. Hence it was more of nowcast instead of the forecast.

The new model will help provide advisories to the fishermen on PFZ, three days in advance. This system will also overcome the limitation of satellite-based data during overcast skies.