What to Read in The Hindu Editorial( Topic and Syllabus wise)

Editorial 1: Overfishing — the threat to ocean wealth, livelihoods

Context

If we allow overuse of marine resources to continue, it will only increase poverty, damage marine biodiversity, and destroy chances of sustainable harvests.

Introduction

India’s marine fisheries sector now produces around 3 to 4 million tonnes of fish each year, showing that the country has likely reached its maximum sustainable catch. However, even with this large production, there is unfairness. Small-scale fishers make up 90% of the fishing community, but they catch only about 10% of the total fish. Most of the catch is taken by large mechanised fishing operations.

Socio-economic Challenges

• Nearly 75% of marine fisher familiesin India live below the poverty line.
• Fisherfolk try to catch “just one more kilo”using bigger engines and newer nets.
  • Results in minimal increasein fish catch.
  • Leads to higher debt, fuel costs, and financial pressureon already poor communities.

Ecological Impact of Shrimp Trawling

Issue	Details
Bycatch problem	For every 1 kg of shrimp, over 10 kg of other marine life is discarded.
Bycatch contents	Mostly juvenile fish and non-target species, many of which die after being tossed back.
Impact on biodiversity	Damages reef ecosystems, disrupts food chains, and weakens future fish stocks.

Technical Factors Worsening Decline

• Use of small mesh nets(< 25mm) catches juvenile fish.
• Reduces spawning stock biomass→ lowers fish reproduction rates.
• Results in decline of commercial specieslike sardine and mackerel.
• Such declines may take decades to recover— or may become irreversible.

Global Precedents of Fishery Collapses

Region	Collapse	Outcome
Canada (1992)	Northern cod fishery collapsed	Moratorium enforced; stocks still below recoverylevels
California, USA	Pacific sardine fishery collapsed in mid-1900s	Closed from 1967–1986; recent declines again observed

Regulatory & Policy Challenges in India

• Each coastal State/UThas its own Marine Fisheries Regulation Act (MFRA).
• Creates a patchwork of laws→ Easy for illegal fishers to bypass rules.
• Juvenile fishprotected in one State may be legally caught in another.
• Leads to “laundering”of undersized fish, harming conservation efforts.

Global Best Practice: New Zealand’s Quota Management System (QMS)

Feature	Description
Started in 1986	Introduced a Quota Management System (QMS) based on scientific stock assessments
Total Allowable Catches (TAC)	Set according to real-time fish population data
Tradable quotas (ITQs)	Clear rules for commercial, recreational, and customary fishers
Impact	Helped stabilise and even rebuild fish populations

Adapting QMS in India: Potential Benefits

• Introduce QMS for large mechanised trawlers, at least in pilot zones.
• Link fishing rights to stock health, not to vessel sizeor fuel usage.
• Apply targeted size limitsand Minimum Legal Size (MLS)
• Case Study (Kerala):After enforcing MLS for threadfin bream, fish catch increased by 41% in one season.
  • Allowing fish to grow and reproduceleads to better yields and higher fisher incomes.

Threat from Fish-Meal and Fish-Oil (FMFO) Industry

Problem	Impact
Bycatch used as feed	Encourages more discards for higher feed profits
Low-value bycatch	Over 50% of some trawl hauls are juvenile fish for FMFO processing
Nutritional loss	These are exported, depriving Indian consumers and aquaculture industry

Solutions to Align Industry with Conservation

• Cap FMFO quotasto limit overuse.
• Mandate releaseof juvenile fish back into the sea.
• Redirect bycatchto local aquaculture broodstock, not export.

Multi-Level Action Plan for Reform

Level	Actions Required
Central Government	Revamp vessel licences, infrastructure grants, and fishing subsidies to support ecosystem-based regulation.
State Governments	Strengthen enforcement using patrol boats, digital reporting, and real-time monitoring.
Local Communities	Empower fisher cooperatives and village councils as co-managers of marine protected areas.
Consumers	Use buying power to support legal-size, sustainably sourced seafood and reject biodiversity-harming options.

We stand at the crossroads

• Climate changecausing more storms and coastal erosion.
• India’s coastlinestretches over 11,098 km, affecting 3,000+ fishing villages.
• Overfishingworsens poverty, harms marine biodiversity, and reduces sustainable fish yields.
• Set science-based catch limits (quotas).
• Create uniform fishing regulationsacross all States.
• Promote community-led marine protection.
• Shift policies toward long-term sustainabilityover short-term gain.

Conclusion

On this International Day for Biological Diversity, let us promise to protect India’s rich marine life. We should do this not just for our food and jobs today, but also to ensure strong ecosystems and fair prosperity for the future generations.

 

Editorial 2: ​​Narrating the nation abroad

Context

India needing to engage in diplomatic clarification shows a concern that its actions might be misunderstood, misrepresented, or overlooked amid the noise of global crises.

Introduction

India’s move to send diplomatic envoys and delegates to different countries to explain its side of the story on the recent clashes with Pakistan and the terrorist attack that started them brings up a key question: is this proactive diplomacy a sign of strength or a way to offer reassurance?

India’s Diplomatic Outreach and Narrative Legitimacy

• On the surface, India’s move is a strategic effortto:
  • Manage international perception.
  • Prevent misrepresentation.
  • Reinforce India’s image as a responsible global actor.
• Beneath this, there is a more complex issue of narrative legitimacy:
  • In today’s world, perceptionoften matters more than facts.
  • International sympathycannot be assumed or taken for granted.
• Much public debate focuses on:
  • The government’s domestic strategy.
  • Political calculationsbehind choosing delegation members.
• However, more important questions include:
  • The necessityof this diplomatic move.
  • Its effectiveness.
  • The expected outcomes.
• In the modern global order:
  • States must perform legitimacyfor an audience of allies, media, and institutions.
  • India’s outreach is part of this performance.
• The outreach aims to:
  • Show that India’s military responseis:
    • Measuredand targeted at terrorists.
    • Aimed at defending sovereignty.
    • Not a pretextto escalate old rivalries.
  • From this perspective, the move shows:
    • Calculated strength.
    • Confidence that India can take the moral high ground.
    • Ability to secure international supportif communicated well.
  • However, the need for such diplomatic efforts suggests:
    • An underlying legitimacy deficit.
    • If India’s position were universally accepted, such explanations would not be needed.
  • Therefore, India’s diplomatic clarification indicates:
    • Concern over its actions being misread, misframed, or ignored.
    • A recognition of the fragility of international opinion.
    • Desire to control the narrativebut also awareness of its vulnerability.

Misinformation in the India-Pakistan Conflict Era

• Speed of misinformationnow outpaces official briefings, amplifying public vulnerability.
• Recent conflicts demonstrate how easily falsehoods become accepted as facts.
• Examples include:
  • Old video footage misrepresented as current.
  • Unrelated disaster clips falsely linked to conflict.
  • Scenes from digital war games circulated as real military operations.
• Such misinformation is not just state-sponsored, but largely generated and shared by ordinary social media users.
• Motivations include:
  • Nationalist fervor
  • Emotional reactions
  • Digital mischief

Actor	Role in Misinformation	Examples
Ordinary Users	Share and amplify false content	Viral sensational videos
Social Media Users	Spread fabricated content on both sides	Indian & Pakistani users
Technology (AI)	Generate deepfakes and AI images	Harder to detect misinformation

Impact on Credibility and Public Perception

• India’s efforts to clarify facts are like swimming upstreamdue to:
  • Pre-formed opinions based on viral, emotional content.
• Key questions arise:
  • Does verifiable information still matter as a public good?
  • Has news become a tool of affect and performancerather than truth?
• The erosion of trust represents a philosophical crisis:
  • Traditionally, “truth is the first casualty of war” referred to state secrecy.
  • Example: WWII Japanese emperor’s euphemistic surrender speech.
• Now, distortion is bottom-up, lateral, and participatory:
  • Citizens produce and share falsehoods aligned with their beliefs.
  • Blurs line between truth and illusion.

Philosophical Context: Simulation and Reality

Concept	Explanation	Implication
Jean Baudrillard’s claim	“The Gulf War did not take place” — war consumed as spectacle and simulation	Reality displaced by mediated images
Modern context	Simulation now overrides real events in public perception	Public sees illusion as reality
Humanities perspective	Loss of shared facts leads to loss of meaningful argument and debate	Results in disorientation, not discussion

India’s Diplomatic Campaign: A Battle for Credibility

• Effort is not just persuasion, but restoring conditions for meaningful dialogue.
• Could signal either:
  • Admission of vulnerability, or
  • Reassertion of national strength based on historical authenticity (e.g., Non-Aligned Movement legacy).
• Failure to restore trust risks:
  • Military precision and moral clarity becoming irrelevant.
  • Audience losing ability to distinguish justified actionsfrom manufactured illusions.

Conclusion

So, the bigger question is not if India can explain itself to the world, but whether the world still has a way to hear these explanations as truth and not just ignore them as one more version of the story. Losing that means losing more than just credibility — it means losing our last chance for a politics of authenticity.