A 3-day National Consultative Workshop on implementation of the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project Phase II in India held successfully from 21 – 23 March 2024 in Chennai. Jointly organized by the BOBP and IUCN, the broad objectives of the Workshop were to (i) Share information on BOBLME Project; (ii) Identify potential 2 EAFM and 1 MMA site and scoping the sites to develop plans and implementation, while considering national integrated coastal management /Marine Spatial Planning interests/ policies; (iii) Initiate planning for reducing IUU fishing and management of coastal & marine pollution; (iv) Initiate planning for enhanced livelihoods and resilience of the BOBLME; and (v) Establish partnerships with and amongst stakeholders for future collaboration. Eight-five participants representing government agencies, academia, NGOs and community organizations took part. Inaugurating the Workshop, Ms. Neetu Kumari Prasad, IAS recounted developmental activities being carried out by the Government on fisheries and environmental sectors and said that the scope of synergy between the project and the ongoing initiatives to work towards achieving the larger objectives of sustainability and resilience should be explored.

The key outputs from the project include identification of potential sites for piloting EAFM and marine managed areas (MMA) and outlining of plans for dealing with waste management in fishing harbours, gear marking, and IUU fishing.

The workshop was also successful in delineating dovetailing of project activities with ongoing governmental initiatives such as the National Coastal Mission, Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI), National Action Plan on Control of Sea-based Marine Plastic Litter, SwachhBharat and India’s vision for the development of its Blue Economy, underscoring the importance of bringing coastal communities and relevant stakeholders together to implement policies and programs.

A cultural programme displaying sand art was also organized exemplifying the importance of the ocean to human life.

Delivering the concluding remark, Dr P Krishnan, director, BOBP-IGO thanked the Government of India and the participants for their cooperation in successful organization of the event. He said that the workshop successfully brought out various critical issues on fisheries and environment which will inform the project activities. He appreciated the scope of cooperation with ongoing initiatives and said that such arrangement would help in scaling up the project activities and ensuring their sustainability post-project completion.