Who are we?
Friends of Marine Life (FML) is a coastal Indigenous civil society organisation that has been undertaking underwater studies related to seabed ecology, biodiversity documentation, the preparation of Community Marine Biodiversity Online Register (CMBOR), underwater cleanups, ocean literacy programs, and coastal history documentation in Trivandrum, Kerala, South India. Since 2012, its work has been bringing out the coastal community's knowledge of their seabed and ecosystem — knowledge that is typically expressed in their coastal dialect, which has long been a barrier to the scientific community in interpreting and utilising it. FML has a team of SCUBA divers capable of conducting underwater exploration studies to a maximum depth of 43 metres. FML is also one of the organisations with special accreditation from the United Nations in support of the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.
Vision and Mission
The fishing community is a treasure house of traditional knowledge about seabed ecosystems, having depended on those ecosystems for their livelihoods across generations. Unfortunately, this knowledge has not yet been drawn upon in marine research. According to traditional fishing communities, the seabed ecosystem is fragile, biodiversity-rich, and sensitive — and it has been sustainably used by local fisherfolk over generations. Today, both the impacts of climate change and a wide range of anthropogenic activities are threatening ocean health. In this context, it is necessary to document the current geo-morphological and biological condition of the seabed, so that firm steps can be taken to halt unscientific human interventions — whether in the form of coastal constructions or destructive fishing methods — that threaten marine ecosystems and fishers alike. FML recognised the importance of conducting seabed studies with the participation of fishing communities, complemented by citizen science.
What We Do
Ocean Cleanups
Many of our waste products end up in the sea — visible litter as well as invisible pollutants such as chemicals from personal care products and pharmaceuticals that we flush down our drains and toilets. These pollutants move through the ocean, endangering marine life through entanglement, ingestion, and intoxication. When we visit coastal areas, engage in activities at sea, or eat seafood, we too can be exposed to marine pollution that harms our health. We can all help to reduce marine pollution by changing our consumption patterns and by reducing, reusing, and recycling our waste.
Ocean literacy
The ocean is a source of food, energy, and minerals. It regulates the Earth's climate, hosts the greatest diversity of life and ecosystems on the planet, and provides economic, social, and aesthetic services to humankind. Understanding the ocean's influence on us — and our influence on the ocean — is crucial to living and acting sustainably. This is the essence of ocean literacy.
Community Marine Biodiversity Online Register (CMBOR)
Marine biological diversity — or marine biodiversity — encompasses the full wealth of ocean plants, animals, fungi, and micro-organisms. To conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources, species-based as well as ecosystem-based documentation is needed. Current ocean studies tend to focus on individual species, with researchers typically specializing in particular organisms. The fisherman, on the other hand, sees the ocean in its totality — as a whole being. Such knowledge rarely appears in the scientific literature, and there is a visible gap as a result. Beyond this, non-indigenous researchers often have limited understanding of the language and culture of fishing communities — a language and culture that has been shaped over generations by their intimate relationship with marine biodiversity.
FML at UNOC 2025
FML representatives participated in the United Nations Ocean Conference 2025 in Nice, France. FML highlighted shipping disasters off Kerala, issues of marine habitat and biological diversity in South India, and the concerns of small-scale fishers, in a high-level session. Our organisation has made a call to action on shipping disasters and related issues in Kerala, South India. FML also made a collective submission with partner organizations committing to the implementation of SDG 14 as part of UNOC3.
