Chilika Lake Fishers Cooperative Odisha Ecology

Chilika Lake in the Puri, Khordha, and Ganjam districts of Odisha is Asia largest brackish water lagoon and one of the most ecologically significant wetlands in India, providing livelihoods to over 200,000 fisherfolk from communities of Kaibartta, Kaibarta, Noliasahi, and other fishing castes who have fished its waters for generations. Chilika supports the largest winter migratory bird congregation in India with over a million birds, supports Irrawaddy dolphins in the Satapada area, and produces the famous Chilika prawn and fish varieties appreciated across Odisha. Chilika Development Authority manages the lake ecology, and community cooperative fisher societies exercise traditional customary rights over defined fishing zones. The introduction of illegal prawn gheries enclosures by powerful interests in the 1990s sparked a major ecological and social conflict that led to court orders restoring traditional fishers rights. Chilika fishers cooperative advocacy resulted in legal protection of fishing rights under Odisha government orders.