Strategy for Deep Sea Communication for Safe Fisheries - mKRISHI® Fisheries, a Case Study

Fishing is one of the most dangerous professions in the world. India with one million active fishermen population still lacks a reliable boat-to-shore communication network. Fishermen with smaller boat are more vulnerable to the wilder nature of the ocean, due to dynamic sea current, wind speed, direction and wave heights, etc. They form 80% of the entire fishing community. There being no physical boundary, the risk of fishermen accidently getting in other country's terrestrial water, is very high. Hence, the fishermen and their families are always concerned about the safety of the human lives, boat and gears. Due to deep sea communication network we can continuously get oceanic condition information. Such real-time information about wind speed, direction and wave height can help to estimate the risks and avoid the ocean region which seems dangerous. As part of this initiative, we looked at various available communication technologies like VHF transceivers, satellite communication and cellular mobile communication. Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Tata Consultancy Service and Tata Tele Services formed a consortium and piloted a project to extend the mobile signal deep into the sea up to 30 kms. This extended network enabled continuous accessibility of life saving ocean state forecast information provided by INCOIS. Due to this an accessible Early Warning System (EWS) spread over a digital highway of 30 by 120 km, along Raigad coast. This paper captures the experiences and recommendations derived from this pilot.