THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India, Feb 25 (IPS) - Ibrahim Basheer plunges into the sea and disappears. He remains gone for a couple of minutes before resurfacing for a deep breath of air, repeating this for the next half an hour. When he finally climbs aboard his boat, the net sack around his neck is filled with mussels—his catch for that diving trip. He rests for a short while before diving into the sea again—needing one more such trip to fill the basket he has brought along.
Ibrahim Basheer, diving for mussels at Kovalam beach in Thiruvananthapuram. Credit: Bharath Thampi/IPS An expert swimmer and a diver, Ibrahim has also been in the lifeguard service in Thiruvananthapuram for the last 17 years. Hailing from a fishing family, he started diving for mussels 28 years ago, when he was barely 18. But Ibrahim is also one of the hundreds of fishers in Thiruvananthapuram, the southernmost district of Kerala, who face the impending threat of losing their livelihood. The Vizhinjam International Seaport Project, a joint venture by the Government of Kerala and the Adani Group, has been under the lens for the negative impact it's causing on the marine habitats and ecosystems in the regions around the port. According to the mussel divers of these regions, there has been a significant downfall to the species' habitat in the last decade or so. The mussel size in fishing villages around Vizhinjam has reduced considerably. Credit: Bharath Thampi/IPS Ibrahim Basheer has been diving for mussels for more than 28 years. Credit: Bharath Thampi /IPS Ibrahim runs his fingers through the mussels in his basket: "Before (the port construction), we used to collect 2-4 baskets of large mussels in this same time. A day's diving would easily earn us between Rs.3000 and Rs.5000 (between USD 30 and USD 58). Now, the mussels have become smaller. Their presence has plummeted. We barely make a third of what we used to in a day." Ibrahim says that the association of the mussel divers had reached an agreement not to pick the small mussels, allowing them to grow bigger naturally. But in the last few years, he says with dismay, the mussels in these regions don't seem to be reaching their full size. In 2023, a comprehensive study report, prepared by a team consisting of oceanographers, scientists, social scientists and other authoritative voices, was released by the renowned historian Ramachandra Guha. The report, titled 'Our Beaches, Our Sea,' speaks extensively of…