This report presents the results of a multi-disciplinary research project on the way the Indian coast is transforming and what consequences this has for the original fisher population. It takes Cuddalore District in Tamil Nadu as microcosm and discusses issues such as the industrialization of the coast, the changes affecting fisheries, land-use change, pollution and erosion. The final chapters consider the ways in which fisher wellbeing is impacted and how the fisher population – individually and collectively – responds. The authors argue that coastal transformation in India is many-sided and profound, and that the fishing population is bearing the brunt of modernization.

This report presents the results of a multi-disciplinary research project on the way the Indian coast is transforming and what consequences this has for the original fisher population. It takes Cuddalore District in Tamil Nadu as microcosm and discusses issues such as the industrialization of the coast, the changes affecting fisheries, land-use change, pollution and erosion. The final chapters consider the ways in which fisher wellbeing is impacted and how the fisher population – individually and collectively – responds. The authors argue that coastal transformation in India is many-sided and profound, and that the fishing population is bearing the brunt of modernization.