By Ratana Chuenpagdee, TBTI Global
Nepal is among the top tourist destinations in the world, attracting a large number of visitors each year. Many head for the ‘mountains’, or at least for the view of them. When we said we were going to Bharatpur, people thought that we wanted to visit Chitwan National Park, well-known for rare mammals, like one-horned rhinos and Bengal tigers. We had a better idea, and a much more exciting agenda. We visited the Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) and spent a few days, on 17-21 February, working with a group of undergraduate and graduate students who are studying fisheries and aquaculture at AFU, as well as other young researchers and early career scientists interested in small-scale fisheries.
In December 2023, a call for contribution to the new TBTI E-book focusing on small-scale fisheries and small-scale fish farming in Nepal was launched. The rationale was clear. Inland fisheries are the more marginalized and ignored of all the small-scale fisheries. The E-book is intended to change that, by showcasing the breadth and depth of small-scale fisheries and small-scale farming in Nepal. I traveled there to AFU with Dr. Svein Jentoft, professor emeritus of UiT the Arctic University of Norway and TBTI co-founding member. Our job was to provide feedback to what the group is planning to do in this book, which is coordinated by a long-term TBTI member, Dr. Tek Bahadur Gurung, who has brought together a young and impressive editorial team, namely Ms. Ranju Ghimire, a Master’s student at AFU, Ms. Nelson Pokhrel, a PhD student and a Fishery Development Office, and Mr. Thaneshwar Bhandari, a PhD student and an Assistant Professor, Tribhuvan University.
The stories we heard from the students and researchers during the visit did not disappoint. Although this is the first opportunity for many of them to participate in such a publication, they were able to make great presentations, based on the submitted abstracts. Inspired by others, some (who did not submit an abstract) stepped up to the podium, and shared their stories, about growing up in the fishing family and the fishing communities, and what motivated them to study fisheries, when they could become a doctor or a veterinarian.
Group photo taken at AFU
The students were in awe with what they heard from us, about how their work will now be part of a global effort of TBTI (https://tbtiglobal.net/) to elevate the profile of small-scale fisheries of the world, making visible the beauty and the bounty of small-scale fisheries of Nepal. We, on the other hand, were very impressed with the enthusiasm and passion that the young researchers expressed about doing more for small-scale fisheries of Nepal. They recognize that something must be done to improve the livelihoods of small-scale fishers and small-scale farmers, especially the most marginalized ones, including the Indigenous and the ethnic minorities. Now they know that they can be part of the change with their contribution to the E-book.
Sitting in the classroom and talking about small-scale fisheries and what to write about them is one thing, seeing what they look like and listening to the stories told by them is another. Standing at one of the tributaries of the Narayani River, we talked with fishers, men and women, who have been fishing in that area for decades. Many of them expressed concerns about the degrading resources and the ecosystem, linking also to other activities taking place in the area, like river bed extraction that we could see across the channel. A woman from the community said to us after a while: ‘don’t just talk to us or write about us, do something’.
A visit to Narayani River
She is certainly right. We documented their stories in a short video, and released it on Feb 20th the World Day of Social Justice, as part of TBTI Blue Justice – Alert to Action global campaign (https://www.youtube.com/@TooBigToIgnore/playlists). That was a very small first step, which will be followed by the next big one, which is the E-book that we hope to launch at the International Conference on Aquaculture and Fisheries, hosted by AFU in October this year (https://nefis.org.np/).
The beauty and the bounty of small-scale fisheries and small-scale farming of Nepal may be at risk, but with the young energy, and the support of the professors and senior researchers at AFU and across the country, there is no reason to doubt that something could, and would, be done.