A stroke two years ago left the 72-year-old fisherman partially paralysed, forcing him to hire others to operate his motorised fishing boat. In recent years, the catch has dwindled for fisherfolk along India’s southwestern coast due to rising sea surface temperatures and increasing extreme weather events, which affect fish food availability and survival rates. This, in turn, has pushed many fishers into debt.

Now, things could even worsen, Kerala’s fishing communities fear.

In November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced the first-ever auction of offshore land parcels for mining. “We are pioneering offshore mineral auctions for the first time in 75 years,” said Mining Minister G Kishan Reddy. The 13 identified “blocks” for the first offshore mineral auction include three sites chosen for digging up construction sand off the coast of Kollam.

The Indian government argues that the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has identified about 600,000 square kilometres of offshore territories that could offer lucrative mining opportunities. The blocks selected for the auction fall in these regions.

The three sites off Kerala contain an estimated 302.42 million tonnes of construction sand, enough to build more than 10,000km (6,000 miles) of highway.

But Kerala’s fisherfolk worry the mining will kill the already depleted fishing stocks they rely on for their livelihoods, and damage the coast that has been their home for centuries.

Since the November announcement, they have held near-continuous protests against the offshore mining plan. On February 27, the Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee, a platform representing fishers and other stakeholders in the fishing industry, held a daylong strike.

The state is governed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its left-leaning allies who are opposed to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party government, which rules federally. (Al Jazeera)

On March 4, the Kerala state assembly passed a unanimous resolution opposing the federal government’s decision to permit offshore mining. The BJP has no representation within the state assembly. (Al Jazeera)