That the voice of the
fisherfolk be heard

Uncovering overlooked dimensions in the social-economic-political-ecological fabric of the fisherfolk in Thiruvananthapuram and beyond.

Community-driven, impactful research FROM BELOW.

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An Ongoing CRC Initiative: Anxieties in the wake of disaster

On May 24, 2025, the vessel MSC ELSA 3 capsized in the Kochi sea with 643 containers. Within a few weeks, on June 9, 2025, another vessel, M V Wan Hai 503, caught fire off the Kochi coast and exploded. These incidents have produced immense anxiety among the fisherfolk of the Thiruvananthapuram coast. With the aim of providing them a platform to make their unedited voice heard to the general public, the CRC is currently interviewing fisherfolk from various fishing villages in Thiruvananthapuram. These ongoing (as of June 2025) interviews are presented to the public as a growing playlist of videos. Desiring to respect the integrity of the voice of the fisherfolk, the videos containing their interviews are devoid of commentary and editorializing. Any observations we eventually might make on this situation will be in separate videos.

Vision Statement

We envision a Thiruvananthapuram coast, home to a network of flourishing communities of fisherfolk, whose life is visible to mainstream society in all its complexity and whose traditional knowledge and cultural practices are recognised as having intrinsic value and being deserving of preservation.

We envision a future in which the flourishing of local fishing communities and marine ecosystems are given the priority they deserve and are not ignored under the overbearing influence of an ideology of unlimited and frenzied development motivated by neoliberal ideologies.

We envision the academic community of the future being able to interact with the living tradition of the communities of fisherfolk, to study these traditions through various paradigms and to aid in the preservation and enrichment of these traditions.

We envision a general public in the future that is radically aware of the longstanding marginalization imposed on the traditional fishing communities and open to working with these communities in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Mission Statement

The fishing communities of Thiruvananthapuram are marginalised and to a large extent deprived of spaces to exercise their agency. Thus, recognizing the urgent need to work towards remedying this situation,

We aim to work closely alongside these communities so that the various dimensions of their lives are made intelligible to the mainstream of society through rigorously scientific methods of research.
We also aim to accompany these communities in their journey towards becoming empowered to claim for their way of life and their livelihood the protection that they justly deserve, as traditional indigenous communities with a long and rich history.
To this end, we are committed to helping them preserve and reinvigorate their indigenous knowledge and cultural practices so that they can be passed on to future generations as a living tradition.