This episode unravels the discrepancy between the illusion of oceanic abundance that modern Indian pescetarian diets are premised upon and the reality of its waterways. To tell this story, Meher Varma travels through Goa’s fishmakets, seafood restaurants, and jetties, discussing how the modern fishing industry is depleting ocean life at an alarming rate, the implications of promoting the dinner plate-sized filet, and seeing fish as superfoods.

In this episode of Bad Table Manners, Meher chats with:

• Aaron Lobo, a marine biologist and Goa native who researches the impacts of tropical fisheries on ecosystems and livelihoods

• Samanth Subramanium, a London-based author, reads excerpts from his nonfiction book Following Fish: One Man's Journey into the Food and Culture of the Indian Coast 

Here are some highlights:

Reconnecting with the Food System

• Aaron argues that it’s vital to be more aware of what’s going on in the food system, and that we can no longer afford to be lazy consumers. “I think that is one of the biggest sources of the problems and the crisis we see in the food system today,” he says. “It’s really important to re-engage and reconnect to our food system.”

Palate Cleanser: An Economy of Idleness

• Samanth reads an excerpt from Following Fish: “Goa’s is an economy of idleness, not an economy made up of idle people. But an economy that relies on the human desire to idle. To idle is to linger, and to linger is to buy more stuff, eat more stuff, and do more stuff on jet skis. Thence, the Goan economy.”

The Performativity of Goan Fish Markets

• Meher admits that, walking through the fish market, it was difficult not to ogle at the abundance and size of the fish there, which created a fantasy of local, fresh seafood. 

• Aaron unpacks this illusion. In the 1980s and ‘90s, what you saw at the market was truly reflective of the “catch of the day.” Now, due to seasonal monsoon fishing bans, trawlers cannot catch any seafood from June through August, so markets have to source food nationally, or even globally, in order to meet demand. 

• This expansive sourcing leads to the illusion of diversity and freshness, which merchants rely on. Most seafood, however, is not the “catch of the day,” and can sometimes be weeks or months old.

• Merchants will also change the name of a fish to make it sound more glamorous or palatable. Patagonian toothfish, for example, doesn’t sound appealing, but it is being sold in high-end restaurants as Chilean sea bass. 

Lineage of Goan Fishing

• Up to the 1950s: Artisanal, small scale fishing took place in Goan waterways through smaller vessels and sailboats. 

• In the late 1960s-1970s: Trawlers were introduced, ushering in an era of industrialization and capitalism that targeted high-value commercial species like shrimp and snapper, which would sell well in export markets. 

• 1990s: Liberalization of the Indian economy led to a preference for bigger fish, like tuna, sea bass, grouper, and king mackerel, which tend to be predators in their respective ecosystems.

Effects of Industrialization on Consumers

• While trawling is considered a “high-tech” method that optimizes quantity, it produces lower quality fish, which consumers have grown used to. It also produces: lower-skilled labor; more waste; and elitism, as foods of the poor are repackaged and become trendy, which has negative consequences for less privileged communities.

Effects of Economic Liberalization on Ecosystems

• Aaron explains that fishing for predator species like tuna and grouper, which produce the plate-sized, boneless filets that consumers desire, has negative effects on the population control of smaller prey fish like anchovy and sardines. Often times, too, these larger predator fish are caught before they reach sexual maturity, which means there are fewer numbers of them reproducing and their populations have a more difficult time bouncing back.

Palate Cleanser: Reflections on Fishing

• Samanth reads another excerpt from Following Fish: “It’s a simple matter nearly anywhere on the Indian coast, to turn to the person next to you and spark a conversation about fish as food. Only in Goa, however, is it as simple to talk about the act of fishing itself.”

Intensifying Cosmopolitanism Due to COVID-19

• Meher explains that thousands of people moved to Goa during the lockdown in India, bringing their appetites and recipes with them. As new populations move in, demand is again beginning to shift, changing the Goan ecosystem. She questions what we consider invasive, both in human and in fish populations.

• Aaron adds that these shifts are not all bad: that with new people come new recipes and new ways of cooking, and a diversity in food culture that many Goans are not familiar with.

Reconnecting with the Food System

• Aaron returns to the idea that humans’ relationship with the natural environment is in decline, and that only when we reconnect with the food system—and with the sea—will we begin to truly affect sustainability.

Palate Cleanser: An Outright War

• Samanth reads another excerpt from Following Fish: “He dissected the perpetual state of confrontation between the trawler owners and the Ramponkars, the traditional fishermen using the artisanal Rampur nets. That conflict has been seething since the 1970s, but even today, he said, every year, some boats are burned. ‘This,’ he said, ‘is an outright war.”