ABSTRACT
The aim of the chapter is to understand the phenomenon of multiday, long-distance fishing as a potential route to livelihood security in coastal communities in Tamil Nadu, India. Specifically, it attempts to unpack the complexity of movement as a dynamic process and how it relates to changes in fishing technologies and practices over time and to fishers’ identities. On the basis of a survey of fishing households in Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu and support from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, the authors find that although resource depletion and growing competition are pushing men to fish in distant waters, their movements are also driven by their identity as specialized in deep-sea fishing, especially ‘shark hunting’. In addition to earning money, they gain a sense of satisfaction from the display of their skills in confronting and overcoming serious risks. In the process of bolstering masculine identities, women’s roles and identities are refashioned in the domestic economy.
