The Fisheries Economics Research Unit (FERU) and the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries would like to welcome Ema Fatima.
Originally from India, her early life was spent in a landlocked state, situated close to the eastern Himalayan range. During her undergraduate studies in a coastal city that they were first introduced to marine-related subjects and became passionate about them. She completed her BSc. Environmental Science at Indraprastha University, Delhi and her MSc. in Biodiversity and Conversation at Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.
Before commencing her PhD studies, she worked with various stakeholder groups, including governmental, non-governmental organizations, and fishing communities. She was involved in sea turtle research at KSLAB, Indian Institute of Sciences, and later, while serving as the marine program coordinator for WWF-India, she expanded her expertise to encompass areas like shark and ray fisheries, seafood certification, community monitoring initiatives related to ghost nets, and conflict resolution concerning bycatch from trawl gears.
Her thesis will broadly focus on understanding the economics of fishing industry in India. She will use trawl fisheries as case study: a sector reported most profitable by the nation’s government. She will be investigating the economic impact based on empirical analysis of what is perceived as profitable and what are the other unaccounted hidden cost. The second part of her thesis aims at identifying who bears the financial burden. The outcome of this study envisages to have a better understanding of government resource use and distribution for improving fisheries management effectiveness.