ABSTRACT
This traditional song is a poignant expression of the everyday life-world of traditional fishermen all over the globe. It encapsulates the profession: an enterprise that is both individual and collaborative; that requires intense labour; that depends on both nature and ecology. And today the call to go fishing depends on various levels of technology, from the petrol or diesel outboard motor to the advanced mechanisation of the trawler. Fisherfolk deal with similar problems all over the world, whether they fish in fresh or saltwater, across physical or geopolitical boundaries and within an increasingly fragile ecology. This article will trace some aspects of the changing labour practices and environment contexts in the present day lives of fisherfolk in the Mumbai and Goa area. It will demonstrate the imbrication of the activity of fishing with the changing ecologies of the coast and the modernisation of India’s economy, specifically through industrialisation and tourism. It will also explore the experiences of two communities of artisanal fishing people on India’s western coast, their craft and their lives in the challenging conditions of globalisation.
