Fishworkers to have a say in coast protection

The Centre has agreed to drop the current coastal management zone (CMZ) notification, perceived to be controversial, with that for a coastal regulation zone (CRZ)
Sadiq Naqvi Delhi Hardnews

The long struggle of the fishing community to manage the coastal regions of India and prevent it from being usurped by business houses has finally paid dividends.

The ministry of environment has agreed to drop the current coastal management zone (CMZ) notification, perceived to be controversial, with that for a coastal regulation zone (CRZ), which was earlier in place since 1991. Environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, informed this to a delegation of National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF). The CMZ notification lapses on June 22, 2009.

Also, fishworkers will be consulted before any legislation/ notification is put in place.

Ramesh told the delegation that CMZ notification will not be reinforced. Instead of delegating coastal management to professional managers from industrial units, a fresh dialogue will be initiated with the fishing community. He said that he now believes that is a better way of managing coasts.

The Central government, had almost decided to handover the coasts, like forests and other natural resources, to private players. That would have triggered massive scale of displacement.

Eventually, however, the Centre succumbed to pressure from the fishing community. The NFF delegation also met officials from the ministries of agriculture, labour and home on July 2. They took up a number of issues affecting India's 20 million strong fishing community. They also met President Pratibha Patil.

Currently, the decision making about fisheries sector and fishing communities is spread over half a dozen ministries. That makes it a cumbersome process. Appointments with officials are hard to get. The delegates asked the President to set up a separate ministry for fisheries.

During their meeting with agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, NFF delegates asked him to waive the debts of fishermen on the lines of the loan waiver to small farmers.

The delegation apprised home minister, P Chidambaram, of the harassment fishermen face at the hands of security personnel. "Post 26/11, the security along the coasts has increased manifold. Fishworkers are harassed in the name of checking. The security personnel seems to have forgotten that our community has always helped in maintaining a vigil along the coasts across the country," a delegate told Hardnews.

Labour minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, also promised to ratify the ILO convention on fishing and enact required legislations.

Addressing mediapersons, secretary of NFF, T Peter, said, "We welcome the promises made by the government and e hope they will keep them. If the government backtracks from its current stand we won't hesitate to resist it because it is the only source of livelihood for us."

He also mentioned how the government has been trying to sell the coastline to SEZs and foreign ship breaking firms thereby depriving traditional fishermen of their livelihood. "If the politicians and experts feel that they can take control of the coast without showing any concern for us, they should know this is not possible," he said.

Hardnews learnt that a slew of foreign ship-breaking firms are flourishing along the coastline of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Around 21 islands near Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu have been marked as no-fishing zones in the name of coral reef protection. But, the government itself destroyed coral reef for the Sethu Samundram Project.

The traditional fishing community had been fighting and resisting the neo-liberal policies of the government which aim at giving out the whole coastline to entrepreneurs.