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In rapidly developing countries, where large sections of the population are highly dependent on marine resources, coastal livelihoods are vulnerable to sudden shocks and long-term change. National policy can attempt to mitigate this vulnerability within a multi-level framework by addressing the three aspects of vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity) through well-documented interventions. This article reviews the Indonesian policy framework for coastal and marine policy interventions that either directly or indirectly address different dimensions of coastal livelihood vulnerability. The findings show that the policy environment for addressing coastal livelihood vulnerability is heavily based on developing adaptive capacity and to a certain extent sensitivity without adequately addressing exposure, the initial cause of vulnerability. In addition, the complexities and inconsistencies within the Indonesian governmental structures, as well as more general issues of funding gaps and poor coordination, mean that policies created at national level rarely filter down to provide the intended benefits to coastal communities. It is recommended that practitioners and policymakers engage in a more cohesive and balanced approach to addressing livelihood vulnerability in coastal management by focusing more on the causes of the disease, exposure, rather than healing just the symptoms.

The general distribution of seaweeds along the east and west coasts of India, Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobsr islands is given. The standing crop of seaweeds in all these areas is estimated as more than 1,00,000 tons (wet wt.). The quantity of seaweeds growing in the shallow water areas (0 to 4.0 m depth) of southwest coast of Tamil Nadu was estimated as 22,000 tons (wet wt.) in an area of 17,125 ha and from deep waters (5.0 to 22.0 m depth) was 75,372 tons (wet wt.) from an area of 1,863 sq.km. Monthly data were collected during the four years 1989,1990,1992 and 1993 from different seaweed ,landing Centres in Tamil Nadu coast on the quantity of seaweeds harvested from the natural seaweed beds.

Dunaliella salina and Dunaliella bardawil are well known for carotenogenesis, the overproduction of carotenoids, under stress conditions. The effect of high light (HL) and low light (LL) on the growth, morphology, photosynthetic efficiency, and the β-carotene and zeaxanthin production of D. salina CCAP 19/18 and D. bardawil was investigated and compared. Both strains showed similar growth kinetics under LL growth condition, but D. salina CCAP 19/18 was faster. As the light intensity increased, D. salina CCAP 19/18 cells were elongated and D. bardawil cells became larger. Both strains showed decrease of the maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm) and election transport rate (ETR) under HL growth condition and D. salina CCAP 19/18 was less liable to the light stress. Both strains had about 1.8 and 5 times difference in the O2 evolution rate at LL and HL conditions, respectively. The β-carotene and zeaxanthin production were increased as the light intensity increased in both strains. D. bardawil was more sensitive to light intensity than D. salina CCAP 19/18. The possible application of D. salina CCAP 19/18 as a carotenogenic strain will be discussed.

The community organization of coral reef fishes in the seagrass sub-habitat of Kavaratti toll, Lakshadweep, India was studied during the period from January 1991 to June 1992. Twenty-seven families represented by 65 species were recorded by the visual censes method. The community diversity for families and species was 2.49 and 3.14 respectively. Juveniles and sub-adults of the most adult reef fish, which inhabit other sub-habitats, were recorded here. The high species diversity in the seagrass beds is due to their roles as nurseries, shelter and foraging grounds for many species.

Labridae, Chaetodontidae, Acanthuridae and Mullidae were the most speciose families. Ocurrence of siganids was highly seasonal. The cover that seagrass canopy provides conceals many species and perhaps influenced counts. The occurrence of balistids could be related to the presence of interstitial and patches and abundant invertebrate food. Scorpaenids subsisted on abundant invertebrates and juveniles fishes. High counts and pronounced variations make seagrass beds unstable habitats. However, monsoon assemblages were relatively stable perhaps due to lack of excessive new recruits and a habitat shift by most species.