The Nicobarese tribes and their coastal fishing activities during the COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions- preliminary findings.

We interviewed the Nicobarese tribal community (N = 95) of Car Nicobar Island situated in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, India to analyze the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on their coastal fishing activities. Our surveys revealed a significant reduction (p < 0.001) in the average monthly income and fish catches during pre and post-COVID-19 scenarios. Constraints faced during the pandemic-related restrictions and the possible solutions to reinforce the fishing activities were highlighted for sustainable resource management in Car Nicobar Island.

Policy framework and development strategy for freshwater aquaculture sector in the light of COVID-19 impact in Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, India.

The present study was aimed at understanding the impact of COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions on the freshwater aquaculture sector of Andaman and Nicobar archipelago (ANI). We interviewed the freshwater fish farmers (N = 211) covering all the three districts (North and Middle, South Andaman, Nicobar district) of the archipelago. The results revealed the critical issues faced by the stakeholders such as fish seed unavailability, limitations in feeding, insufficient logistical support, movement related restrictions, lack of inputs, manpower shortages, etc. as the important constraints during lockdown. Our surveys also revealed that there was a significant reduction in the income of the farmers post COVID-19 outbreak (p < 0.001). Possible reform strategies that could promote the sector development and resilience were outlined to recover from the COVID-19 impacts. The study also highlights the significance of effective networking among the stakeholders and necessary preparedness measures to be undertaken by the fish farmers to deal with the exigencies. The study also recommends a policy framework to strengthen the planning and management of freshwater aquaculture sector towards the path of sustainability.

Baseline assessment of marine debris with soil, sediment, and water quality characteristics from the fish landing centres of South Andaman, Andaman archipelago, India.

The present study investigates the issue of marine debris and the associated soil, sediment, water quality, and microbial load from the fish landing centres (Junglighat, Chatham, Wandoor, and Guptapara) of South Andaman. The results revealed that significantly (P < 0.05) higher number and weight of marine debris was found in urban landing centres such as Chatham (21.26 ± 1.03 numbers/m2) and Junglighat (268.16 ± 27.00 g/m2), respectively. Plastic debris was found to be the most abundant type of debris, among which plastic bags were dominant. Better soil, sediment, and water quality parameters were observed in rural landing centres such as Wandoor and Guptapara, whereas microbial load was found to be higher in urban landing centres. The study recommends the imperative need to generate awareness on better management practices among the stakeholders to deal with the issue of marine debris and to aim sustainable management of the coastal environment.

Multi-response optimization of Artemia hatching process using split-split-plot design based response surface methodology.

A novel method, BBD-SSPD is proposed by the combination of Box-Behnken Design (BBD) and Split-Split Plot Design (SSPD) which would ensure minimum number of experimental runs, leading to economical utilization in multi- factorial experiments. The brine shrimp Artemia was tested to study the combined effects of photoperiod, temperature and salinity, each with three levels, on the hatching percentage and hatching time of their cysts. The BBD was employed to select 13 treatment combinations out of the 27 possible combinations that were grouped in an SSPD arrangement. Multiple responses were optimized simultaneously using Derringer's desirability function. Photoperiod and temperature as well as temperature-salinity interaction were found to significantly affect the hatching percentage of Artemia, while the hatching time was significantly influenced by photoperiod and temperature, and their interaction. The optimum conditions were 23 h photoperiod, 29 °C temperature and 28 ppt salinity resulting in 96.8% hatching in 18.94 h. In order to verify the results obtained from BBD-SSPD experiment, the experiment was repeated preserving the same set up. Results of verification experiment were found to be similar to experiment originally conducted. It is expected that this method would be suitable to optimize the hatching process of animal eggs.