This article is the second in the series ‘The Coastal Course’, co-curated by Centre for Financial Accountability and Delhi Forum, reflecting on 10 years of the Sagarmala Programme. The Kerala–European Union Blue Economy Conclave, held in Kollam on September 18-19, 2025, marked the cornerstone for the Kerala government’s intent to capitalise its coastal and marine resources. Titled as Blue Tides Kerala–EU Conclave under the theme “Two Shores, One Vision”, the event aligned neatly with the Union government’s push for a Blue Economy and the Sagarmala mission, and Kerala’s own bid to court large‑scale private investment.With ambassadors and representatives from 18 EU countries in attendance, the conclave produced a number of MoUs worth Rs 7,288 crore, pitched as investments in the “sustainable” use of resources through the transfer of knowledge, technology and expertise. For the Kerala government, the gathering was an attempt to position the state as a hub for infrastructure, business and employment tied to the global Blue Economy agenda.The conclave discussed concepts such as “inclusive development”, with repeated assurances directed at Kerala’s fishing communities. Officials promised fish workers and entrepreneurs a future of growth, jobs and opportunities, to be delivered within a sustainable framework.However, these promises collide with the realities on the ground.The Kerala government’s embrace of the Blue Economy, backed by international collaboration and private capital, represents not just a development strategy but a fundamental reordering of coastal governance. By prioritising large-scale infrastructure projects and global trade ambitions, the state positions itself as a hub in the international maritime economy. Yet this vision risks sidelining the very communities it claims to empower – small-scale fish workers whose livelihoods are already under strain from ecological disruption, mechanised fishing and climate change. What is framed as inclusive growth increasingly appears as a model that privileges capital over community survivalKerala’s economy, mired in debt and stagnation, has been under mounting pressure. Rising unemployment, coupled with a fragile fiscal situation, has pushed the state government to pursue collaborations that promise growth and inclusion in official rhetoric. The welfare state of Kerala came under pressure with the union government’s adoption of neo-liberal policies. Declining financial support and shifting policy regimes from the Union government further facilitated this move. The question is at what cost these development programmes will serve the state’s interests.The case of Vizhinjam portCommercial ports have emerged as a central pillar of the Blue Economy, with policymakers touting their potential to boost maritime trade in an era of expanding global supply chains. Among these initiatives, the Vizhinjam International Seaport has become the flagship project. Strategically and functionally aligned with the NDA government’s Sagarmala mission, in April 2025 a pact for grant based viability gap funding of 817.80 crore rupees from union funds was finalised. Soon after, in May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Vizhinjam Port.The deepwater multipurpose transshipment port in Thiruvananthapuram district has been celebrated as a breakthrough for Kerala’s integration into global trade networks. Yet the project has also provoked strong resistance from small-scale fish workers living along the coast. For them, Vizhinjam represents not opportunity but disruption. The port, which recently completed its first year of operations and has already entered its second phase of construction, is owned by the Kerala government and developed in partnership with Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd (APSEZ) under a Public–Private Partnership model. The project has compromised livelihoods through ecological damage, raising urgent questions about who truly benefits from Kerala’s Blue Economy push.Since 2015, when construction of the port began, fish workers in Thiruvananthapuram have raised serious ecological concerns, particularly over seabed dredging and severe coastal erosion. A 2023 study by the Janakeeya Padana Samithi, an independent team of oceanographers and social scientists, reported that around 289 houses had been destroyed by erosion. These homes, spread across seven villages north of the port site, are predominantly inhabited by small-scale fish workers.The displacement caused by coastal erosion during successive monsoons has forced fish workers to live in makeshift shelters and relief camps without adequate support or long-term rehabilitation measures. Dredging for the breakwater construction destroyed reefs, affecting mussel growth and fish stocks in nearby regions. The fish workers of Kovalam, who rely on these mussel habitats, therefore bear the direct impact of this process.The denial of access to traditional fishing grounds have intensified the marginalisation of fish workers. With “no fishing zones” and restricted areas cutting small-scale fishers off from their livelihoods, their survival is increasingly precarious.While the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) claimed there would be no significant impact on fishing zones or coastal communities, the construction and operation of the Vizhinjam port has severely disrupted diverse livelihoods along this stretch. The number of affected individuals, particularly fish workers, has far exceeded the original estimates made by Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited.As of December 31, 2023, compensation disbursed stood at Rs 106.93 crore, a dramatic increase from the Rs 8.55 crore projected in the 2013 EIA report. This sharp escalation in the amount reveals the scale of impact to livelihoods and ecological damage that has unfolded since the port’s commissioning. Reports (here and here) from affected regions further reveal that compensation has been both delayed and substantially inadequate, leaving many households unable to recover from losses.The situation was further aggravated by a recent spillage of hazardous cargo following the breakdown of a ship en route to Kochi port from Vizhinjam on May 25, 2025. The incident caused significant damage to fish stocks and marine biodiversity, directly impacting the communities that rely on these resources for survival. For fish workers already struggling with shrinking access and ecological stress, the spill demonstrates their state of economic uncertainty and their position in Kerala’s Blue Economy and similar development regimes.How port-led development marginalises small fishersWhile recent events have disrupted the livelihoods of fish workers, several longstanding factors continue to push them further to the margins. In Thiruvananthapuram, most fish workers are engaged in small-scale production, operating within short distances from the shore, unlike communities in the neighbouring coastal districts of Kollam in Kerala and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.The rise of trawling and mechanised fishing along the Thiruvananthapuram coast has already eroded the prospects of small-scale fishers for years, intensifying their vulnerability. For many households situated along the shoreline, fishing remains the primary, and often the sole source of income. In these families, both men and women depend on the sea for survival. Against this backdrop, threats to small-scale fishing, economic uncertainty, declining catches, and deepening poverty, have compounded inequalities within the fishing community. What is presented as development through the Blue Economy and Sagarmala initiatives is, for these workers, a further disruption to sustain livelihoods in the face of mounting pressures from industrial fishing and coastal transformation.In addition, cyclones and climate change have also threatened the livelihoods of small-scale fish workers in Thiruvananthapuram and across Kerala. The convergence of these pressures has reshaped livelihood practices, altered labour relations, and deepened inequalities within the fishing community.Yet, despite the displacement and mounting threats faced by fish workers, the Vizhinjam port continues to be projected as a vital development initiative – one that, according to the state government, contributes to the broader economic growth of both Kerala and the nation. Its prominence stems from the scale of investment involved and the convergence of national and private interests, which have elevated the project as a flagship of Kerala’s Blue Economy drive.This phenomenon is not unique to Kerala. Across the world, fishing communities have faced profound threats as capitalist interventions target coastal and ocean resources, repackaged within the discourse of the Blue Economy. Framed as sustainable growth, these initiatives often mask displacement, ecological disruption, and widening inequalities, leaving small-scale fishers to bear the brunt of a development model that privileges trade and capital over community survival.Shilpa Krishnan is an ethnographer working on coastal governance and land rights issues.