The goal of the MatsyaPasha project, led by Anirban Bhattacharjee, Ritbik Kumar and Raghav Dhaka, fourth-year cadets at IMU Kolkata, is to build a reliable database on fishing nets and the losses connected to them. The initiative, which is supported by the US State Department and overseen by the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), is a crucial step in the process of identifying practical solutions to the problem of our oceans through societal and technological improvements.

The Project was first announced in the TechCamp program conducted by US Consulate General, Chennai, and the Centre for Public Policy Research last year.

For the attendees to pursue the concepts and projects they generated, a request for TechCamp Small Grant Proposals was made during the event. Out of all the proposals, 8 projects were chosen for shortlisting, and MatsyaPasha was one of them.

The team engaged with local fishermen and visited Talsari and Shankarpur fishing harbors during the project’s initial phase. To comprehend and record the local community’s fishing methods, they are collaborating closely with them. The crew has also been gathering information on how many nets are misplaced or discarded each day. A trustworthy database on ghost nets and the associated losses will be built using the information gathered during the first phase of MatsyaPasha.

An important endeavor that will lessen the negative effects of ghost nets on the environment and safeguard the marine life in our oceans is the MatsyaPasha project. The project’s primary goals are to raise awareness of ghost gears and to build a database of fishing methods, expenses, and resources in the West Bengali research areas of Petuaghat and Sultanpur. to create a B2C platform that is welcoming to fishermen, where they may purchase equipment on a buyback basis and get basic training materials on safe fishing techniques.

The project team is collaborating with manufacturers to list fishing nets and gears with NGOs, ocean-based startups, the Fisheries Cooperative Society, and West Bengal Government on an incentivized BUYBACK basis.

By implementing eco-friendly fishing gear and equipment while utilizing the BUYBACK Model on the developed platform to reduce lost, ghost, and abandoned fishing gear.

To know more about the project: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Coz1ZczD-DV/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D