National Fishworkers Forum | SabrangIndia

‘Samundar Bandh’ if gov’t does not listen to farmers: Fishworkers show solidarity

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 07:55:45 +0000

The National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) has joined the nationwide call given by their “farmer brothers and sisters to repeal the newly enacted farm laws”. The NFF has resolved to go ahead with the a ‘Samundhar Bandh’ a fishworkers strike if the government does not pay heed to the demands of the farmers. The fishworkers of India have always been a part of the farming communities, as they are the ones who harvest food from the seas and rivers the same way farmers harvest the land. Both communities of farmers have to deal with fluctuating weather conditions as well as fluctuating government commitment.

Narendra R Patil, Chairperson, NFF issued a statement confirming that the lakhs of fishworkers have joined the Bharat Bandh call as part of the ongoing farmers’ protests for the repeal of the farm laws – The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. “These laws had been unilaterally thrust upon the farming community as ordinances in the midst of the lockdown,” he stated, adding that the “NFF firmly believes that these laws are anti-farmer in nature and spirit and will effectively support the corporates in the form of agri business to loot our natural resources even further and increase the corporate’s margin of profits.”

According to the NFF, this “essentially also leads to furthering landlessness within the peasant community leading to further displacement and unprecedented migration uprooting the peasants from their traditional livelihood.” The NFF stated that it has noted that “there is a systematic attack on the federal structure and autonomy by displacing the local markets by allowing corporates to enter the terrain and making the farming community more vulnerable by making them dependent and at the mercy of the corporates.”

They have always flagged this “ambition of making each and everything under ‘One’ ness” as a “worrying trend” even for the farming community and the farmers on land as this “does not accept the aspirations of the natural resource based communities be it the farmers or fishworkers or the working class at large. The promise of doubling the income of farmers by 2022 is not only going to be a dream, but also will see the dismantling of the agricultural economy in total and is going to see the marginalisation and invisibilisation of a number of actors be it the women, the landless, the small farmers, fishworkers from the spectrum of the sector.”

Even as the National Fishworkers Forum hoped that the government will stop “its repressive tactics to suppress farmer’s protests across the country, the arbitrary imposition of false cases and arrests on farmer leaders and activists” it has stated that it does not see this struggle in isolation and has called for wider alliances and “further actions if the Government do not relent to the demands of the farmers”.

The forum condemned “the violent and inhumane usage of tear-gas and water cannons upon the protesting farmers in Delhi especially when it is extremely cold” and demanded that “Government of India withdraw the new farm laws and listen to the farmers demands and act upon it with immediate effect.” If the demands are not met by the Government, the NFF has urged “all the trade unions of the fishworkers in the coast to come together and join the struggle in Delhi as well as announce the Samundhar Bandh as this is a united fight.”

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Remembering T Peter: Trade unionist and leader of India’s fishworkers

Fri, 09 Oct 2020 13:28:38 +0000

Image Courtesy:thehindu.com

T Peter, General Secretary of the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF), had used the Covid-19 lockdown to work even more than humanly possible for those he called “my people”. Thanks to him, and the NFF, information about stranded fishworkers along the coast of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and the Gulf Countries reached the national media. Many returned home to their waiting family, thanks to the man who worked day and night, collecting, translating, disseminating information about the fishworkers, and preparing documents with his team to be shared with the authorities and media.

This, in addition to the scores of reports and policy papers he would read and with the eye of an editor and the soul of the trade unionist, pick out any anti-worker policy that the authorities may have hidden in jargon. Ever the gentleman, he would always return missed calls from reporters, including the SabrangIndia team, with an apology. “Sorry I did not take your call, I was in a webinar,” was the reason he would start with, “but I want to thank you for your report. No one listens and shares the voice of fishworkers like SabrangIndia does,” he would say and patiently proceed to decode some jargon filled policy the Union Ministry would have just passed. He would then send a detailed press note the next day, “just in case I missed anything”. “We should write a book on the struggles of the Fishworkers sir,” this writer once told him. “Yes yes, let the lockdown end, we at NFF must meet with team SabrangIndia”.

T Peter passed away on October 8, succumbing to Covid-19 related complications in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was 62 years old. The video of his last journey sent by a friend shows the pallbearers observing full Covid protocol, of protective body suits, and physical distancing of the mourners, however one can hear the wails and cries of the men and women T Peter fought for all his life. As the ambulance bearing his mortal remains drove through the streets of the state capital, towards the designated graveyard, a eulogy of the man who the fishworkers called their ‘chettan’ or big brother, was broadcast on loudspeaker.

Peter fought for more than three decades, as a full time activist and union organiser, to empower India’s fishing communities, stated his colleagues, and comrades in a statement. He played a critical role in advancing their struggles from the margins into the political mainstream. They shared his work live bio stating that he joined the Kerala Independent Fishworkers Federation (KSMTF) in the early 1980s as a young organiser in the “fight against trawlers which were destroying both the fragile coastal ecosystems and traditional livelihoods”.

He rose through the union ranks, became a district-level leader and then the state president, he was a cultural activist long before he became well known as a socio- political activist. Even after he passed on the state leadership mantle to the next generation, Peter spent his next years playing a creative and active role at the national and international levels.

After he became the General Secretary of National Fishworkers Forum (NFF), Peter was immersed in organising fishworkers’ unions across the coastal states, and working towards protecting the livelihoods of traditional and small-scale fishworkers from the destructive impacts of large development projects and market driven globalisation.

He was an executive member of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP), and was instrumental in raising fisher concerns at global fora. As shared by his NFF colleagues, Peter was central to the organising of the 7th General Assembly of WFFP in New Delhi in November 2017 which drew participants from across the world.

Peter believed “in solidarity amongst various social, workers and environmental movements” he constantly worked to forge alliances across a number of people’s platforms in India. He played an active role in the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) and worked closely with groups such as the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), Bhumi Adhikar Andolan, New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), Coalition for Environment Justice in India (CEJI) and Forum for Trade Justice, stated his colleagues.

According to his friends Peter was politically astute, and had worked with leaders like Fr. Thomas Kochery, Harekrishna Debnath, Matanhy Saldanha and Ram Bhau Patil. His vision was to always protect the rights of fisher folk of India, and to protect India’s coastal areas. He ensured that the NFF and KSMTF were active participants in many joint struggles against special economic zones, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), free trade agreements (FTAs), industrial corridors, nuclear parks and port expansion. Peter was also chief editor of ALAKAL, a fortnightly magazine published by KSMTF since 1985.

Peter even used the Covid-19 lockdown for upgrading his own technical skills, and was soon online researching, connecting with people the world over, and his latest love of international webinars was becoming well known by the fact that he would send a text or email in the wee hours, almost as if he was running on an international clock. Of course, with all attention on the job at hand he would not take calls whenever a webinar was on. Perhaps he was just too polite to use the mute button online

Few knew that when his home Kerala was hit by floods in 2018, Peter played a pivotal role in mobilising fishworkers and their boats in rescue and relief operations. A fact just shared by his colleagues. Peter would never ever talk about his own achievements. According to his colleagues, just before he fell ill he was busy mobilising the community to oppose the pro-corporate draft of the 2020 National Fisheries Policy and the West Coast Shipping Corridor being pushed unilaterally by India’s Central Government.

His colleagues, today, fondly remembered the unassuming man who “would unhesitantly walk into any Ministry to push the public cause, just as he would walk into any fisher home to extend solidarity or lead a protest or a rally asserting traditional fisher rights.”

“His trademark all weather light blue half-sleeve shirt and white mundu (dhoti) with a cotton cloth bag on the shoulder, is how we will always remember Peteretan- as he was known to his younger friends,” stated his colleagues. Many of whom lined the streets to pay their last respects.

Peter’s sudden passing is indeed an irreparable loss to people’s movements in India and globally. His colleagues state that Peter’s life’s mission “to work with commitment and for solidarity action towards justice and equality for all” will continue in their actions now. “Peteretan will always be with us to inspire us in our struggles for a better world,” the statement were signed by National Alliance of People Movements (NAPM), Delhi Forum, Delhi Solidarity Group, Chennai Solidarity Group, Coastal Action Network, SNEHA, LAW Trust, Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), Third World Network, Environment Support Group, Coalition for Environmental Justice in India, Programme for Social Action (PSA), Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA), Focus on the Global South, and Forum for Trade Justice among others.

The National Fishworkers Forum [NFF] in a separate statement deeply mourned the demise of “our beloved leader and one among the tall stalwarts of the fishworkers movement – Comrade T Peter”. They recalled that he, the son of Thomas and Clarie Bell hailing from a fishing village, “dedicated his life and defined his role of engaging with and for the struggling communities.”

Narendra R Patil NFF Chairperson stated, “As we all are coming to terms with this untimely loss, NFF also stands with Peter’s family and remembers them for their dedication in giving us Peter to take forward the aspirations of the fishing communities. It will be from Peter’s energy, optimism and politics of ‘a new world is possible’ that will lead and help us to carry the aspirations and vision of the fishworkers forward.”

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Fishing for trouble, or troubling the fishworkers?

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 06:11:45 +0000

Image Courtesy:hindkisan.com

The first ever Draft National Fisheries Policy 2020 is not in favour of fishing communities, nor will it help for protecting the oceans and coast, say fishworkers who will be directly impacted, but have not even been consulted. Most of them cannot even access the policy online, and even if they manage to, they cannot read it as the draft is available only in English and Hindi, not the first languages for lakhs who live and work on India’s coastline.

The National Fishworkers Forum has decoded the massive document and analysed the draft threadbare in a nationwide virtual consultation held last week. Around 81 community representatives, policy experts, and union leaders connected from all the coastal states, and from Delhi. The policy analysis papers were presented by community leaders V. Vivekandan, Pradip Chatterjee and Jesuratinam Christy, Narendra Patil and T Peter, of the NFFF.

The exhaustive analysis unearthed a number of gaps in the draft policy which was meant to have a people centric and participatory approach. At the outset the NFF pointed out that the Ministry of Fisheries has published a policy draft on the National Fisheries Development Boards website, without seeking comments from the stakeholders. “The policy has been uploaded in the midst of the pandemic when the trade unions were busy helping out to bring back the migrant fishworkers back to their native places. It is even more appalling that the policy has not been uploaded on the Ministry of the Fisheries website.” stated the NFF which has also submitted a memorandum to the Ministry asking that the deadline (originally June 15 then extended for a while) for comments be extended further, and the policy be translated into the regional languages as well. “There is no translation in the regional languages at all, how will fishworkers read the draft,” asked T Peter.

According to V Vivekandan of FishMarc, there are various contradictions in the policy which appear in the productive integration of fisheries and economic sectors, such as agriculture, coastal development, tourism and blue economy.

The top concerns flagged by the unions are:

Policy Claims: There is centre-state and inter-state cooperation with special emphasis on traditional and Small Scale Fisheries.

NFF says: This is not the case when the policy is analysed. This policy establishes the National Marine Fisheries Authority. It is not clear how will states continue to have powers under this setup. According to the Policy, this Authority will implement fisheries management plans over both territorial waters as well as Exclusive Economic Zone (EZZ), which extends further beyond the coastal waters.

Policy Claims: Analysed the entire fisheries sector, and capture fisheries is substantial.

NFF says: There is an under exploited resource of 30%. The draft does not mention Maximum Sustainable Yield [MSY] calculation that its calculations are based on.

Policy Claims: Artisanal fishermen contribute only 2% of total fish catch.

NFF says: Terms like Traditional fishers, Small Scale Fishers (SSF), mechanised, motorised and artisanal are kept ambiguous, and are overlapping in the draft policy. This is a ploy to dismantle the SSF which are marine fisheries dependent, by assuming that they are not “doing well”. This way they can be moved, rather displaced, to seek other livelihoods. The policy makes tall claims of raising the potential of mariculture production from four million to eight million tonne.

Marine Culture Vs, Marine Capture

The policy puts an emphasis on making fisheries move to mariculture. They say that marine capture fisheries are economically risky. The draft does not offer any clarity on how the fisheries management works in a Centre-state equation of cooperative federalism. With local fishing communities sidelined, it can even lead to “privatisation of the ocean” as it were. Big private companies will ‘own’ oceanic areas where only their large boats will be allowed. A scary scenario for the smaller fisher communities.

The rationale of this draft says the NFF is to “double income, double exports, blue growth initiative,” but not for the community, the mention of commitments to sustainable development goals is vague at best.

At the virtual consultation, Jesuretinam of the NFF highlighted that women fishworkers were almost “invisible” in the policy, barely mentioned five times in the entire policy draft. “There are many women who engage in capture fisheries in both marine, backwaters, estuaries and inland, but there is no mention of them. To make things worse, the government also does not have comprehensive data on women who are in the fisheries sector,” she said.

The policy aims at the rationale of schemes which has been envisioned in the Pradan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana which is largely shrimp culture and mariculture, says NFF. These are components of fisheries management. There is a thrust on culture fisheries and does not engage Small Scale fisheries.

“They have neglected the traditional knowledge of fishworkers in this policy and there is nothing on their rights. Development without rights will lead to eviction of fishworkers from their livelihood,” said Pradip Chatterjee from the National Platform of Small scale fishworkers (Inland).

The NFF states that “the main drive of this policy is earnings, rather than that food security.” The omission of capture fisheries in the inland sector is another cause of worry. With rivers and wetlands so polluted, that inland fishworkers can barely make ends meet, this is a big reason why they become migrant fishworkers and go work in other states. The draft policy does not secure their tenure rights either. Fish farmers, especially migrants, work under verbal agreements and understanding. There is no support from the government in case of a dispute. The draft also does not mention fish vendors, especially in the domestic market and distribution.

“Fish farmers are being treated as a single homogenous group,” stated the NFF, “the definition of artisanal or small scale fish worker is also not clear.”

The National Fishworkers Forum has decided to hold discussions with fishing communities across the coastal states, and has urged the Ministry of Fisheries to delay the draft policy till all stakeholders are consulted. Before everything else, the NFF has demanded that the draft be immediately translated into regional languages so the fishing community can read and respond to the biggest policy document that can alter their lives for years to come.

National Fisheries Policy 2020 can be read here:

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Government risking lives of fishermen by letting them venture into rough seas?

Thu, 28 May 2020 07:43:19 +0000

Image Courtesy: dnaindia.com

The National Fishworkers Forum has written to Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, asking him to revoke the order which reduces the uniform fishing ban from 61 days to 47 days. The latest order, issued by the Department of Fisheries, will now override the previous order issued on March 20.

However the National Fishworkers Forum has said that this order must be revoked, and the earlier order where the ban was for 61 days be honoured. They want this for two simple reasons. This is the breeding season and any disturbances in that cycle will harm the fishing industry for years to come, and the seas are too rough and it is dangerous to go out to fish monsoon months.

The fishermen who work on small and medium boats are the worse hit. Almost all of them have been already grounded when the sudden national lockdown was announced due to Coronavirus spread, and have had almost no financial support. Those registered can claim an allowance when the annual ban is in place, but now, if the ban is lifted too early, they will not get that also, explained sources in the NFF.

Fishing is now banned only for 47 days, along India’s East Coast from April 15 to May 31, and along the West Coast from June 15 to July 31. After that the fishermen will have to venture out to earn their wages.

“The government perhaps wants to avoid paying the allowance. And fishermen will end up risking their lives by going out into the sea now,” said NFF General Secretary T Peter who is a co signatory on the letter to the Union Minister. The ministry’s revised order has reduced the uniform ban on fishing, by all fishing vessels in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), beyond territorial waters on the East Coast including Andaman, & Nicobar Islands, and West Coast including Lakshadweep Islands.

The ban aims a “effective management of fishery resources” and ensure “sea safety.” said NFF who on April 2, had written to the the Ministry that they “welcomed the order of a uniform ban on fishing by all fishing vessels in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone and had mentioned that ban has been formulated to help regenerate marine fisheries in the Indian waters where the monsoon season creates a conducive environment for fish spawning.”

Reducing the days when fishing is banned will be counterproductive to the original plan, say NFF. “It is crucial to protect the marine habitat during the reproduction period. Those engaged in sustainable fishing need to be supported,” said Peter.

The NFF has said that the uniform ban period of 61 days was implemented with consultation between central and state governments in 2015. “This uniformity came after many decades of conflicts, especially between sectors and between states, and with demands made multiple times by the NFF,” it stated. According to the NFF’s letter to the minister, the current ban period upholds the spirit of a “Supreme Court interim order in the case of ‘Goa Environment Federation versus State of Goa and Others’ in 2005 which imposed a 67 day ban period ‘keeping in view the prime need to preserve the natural fishing resources as also to protect the traditional fishermen.”

T Peter explained that during these months the seas are rough and can put the boats and of the fishermen on board at great risk. The weather remains cloudy and windy even if it is not raining that instant, and the conditions can change suddenly. “There have been many incidents of the loss of boats and lives of fishworkers as a result of inclement weather during the monsoon months. This is the main reason why in addition to the ecological context, the ban also mentions ‘sea safety’,” stated NFF.

The NFF said that the long ban period is a positive move that helps the small scale fisheries, “as in those 61 days the mechanised boats do not operate, our community is safeguarded from the impacts of the destructive fishing gears. Trawlers can destroy the marine environment and greatly disturb the spawning cycle,” explained T Peter.

Then there is the lesser known fact that it is in these non-fishing months that the seasonal fishworkers return home to their native states. However, due to Covid-19 pandemic, a ban had started suddenly with the lockdown and had estranged workers in Gujarat and Maharashtra on the West coast. “If the ban is ended earlier in the East coast it will further harm the fishworkers and make them vulnerable to exploitation,” said T Peter explaining the NFF’s objections.

The Eastern Coast too is yet to recover from the damage caused by Cyclone Amphan, and if the ban is shortened it risks the lives of fishworkers who will be forced to head out into the sea. The NFF has demanded that this order be scrapped and that the fishing ban period revert to the standard 61-day period.

“The lockdown has impacted the fishing sector severely. However, tampering with the ban order will only work in the favour of the mechanised sector and those who own fish farms,” said the NFF leadership.

They have also warned of the “worsened wind and wave conditions, including the increasing regularity of cyclones, during the monsoon period, the reduction of the ban period puts migrant workers on the fishing boats at immense risk.” In the wake of the Cyclone Amphan the NFF says it is “highly irresponsible to push workers out to sea to work during this period”. They add that the Monsoon is already in its onset stages “with a depression forming in the Arabian Sea.”

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National Fishworkers Forum launch month-long national campaign against CRZ 2019 regulations

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 08:36:37 +0000

NFF in association with Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott will kick off its first protest at Lohia Maidan, Margao on Feb 23 followed by National protest on February 25 at Gujarat, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, February 26 at Tamil Nadu, March 9 in Kerala, February 27 at Odisha and March 23 at Maharashtra and West Bengal.

Goa: National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) has declared a month-long national campaign from February 23rd to March 23rd, 2019 in all coastal states against the new Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 2019 issued by the Government of India on January 19 2019.

NFF in association with Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott will kick of its first protest at Lohia Maidan, Margao on Feb 23 followed by National protest on February 25 at Gujarat, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, February 26 at Tamil Nadu, March 9 in Kerala, February 27 at Odisha and March 23 at Maharashtra and West Bengal.

“The National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) has strongly protested against the new Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification issued by the Government of India on January 19, which drastically dilutes the provisions for protecting the coastal ecosystem. The NFF says this will eventually destroy the livelihoods of fisherfolk along the coast of India as 7500km coastline and 14500km of river line will be concretized for Sagarmala projects. Taking strong objection to the lack of consideration given to fishing community views, the NFF has vowed to fight the new notification. It has demanded the withdrawal of the notification and its replacement with a new law by the Parliament, enacted after an elaborate public debate and discussion. In this connection, the NFF has declared a month-long national campaign from 23 February to 23 March 2019,” the group said in a Facebook post on February 4.

Olencio Simoes Vice Chairperson of NFF has appealed to each and every citizen of Goa to attend the national protest at Lohia Maidan on February 23 as the state is heading towards major catastrophe as the new CRZ notification 2019 will undo all special consideration which Goa had in the CRZ notification 2011, Herald Goa reported.

The CRZ 2011 in section V (3) clearly stated the Government of Goa shall notify the fishing villages by which reconstruction, repair works of the structures of local communities including fishermen community would have been permissible in CRZ. The eco-sensitive low-lying areas which are influenced by tidal action known as khazan lands shall be mapped. The mangroves along such as khazan land shall be protected and a management plan for the khazan land prepared and no developmental activities shall be permitted in the khazan land. Sand dunes, the beach stretches along the bays and creeks shall be surveyed and mapped, the report said.

Corals and coral reefs and associated biodiversity, mudflats, salt marshes, turtle nesting grounds at Mandrem, Morjim, Galgiba and Agonda, horseshoe crabs’ habitats, seagrass beds, nesting grounds of birds, areas or structures of archaeological importance and heritage sites, all these eco-sensitive areas which had to be mapped and surveyed in the Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMPs) will be now open for haphazard development in the CRZ notification 2019.

Agnelo Rodrigues President of Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott has said this is a desperate attempt by the government to push Sagarmala plans which will concretize the entire 105 km of Coastline of Goa and 180 km of river line of Goa, the report quoted.

Olencio Simoes stated the central government and the state government has purposely confused the people of Goa by inserting a new clause in section 2.3.2 CRZ-III B of the new CRZ notification 2019 that if the population density of Goa is less than 2161 per square kilometre, as per 2011 census base then the NDZ would be 200 mts and if the population density is more than 2161 per square kilometre then the NDZ would be 50 mts, the report said.

NFF and GRE called it a bluff as the previous notification has been already amended 37 times and did not think there was a guarantee that the state or central government would give them an assurance section 2.3.2 CRZ III B would not be amended.

“Apart from ignoring basic tenets of policy-making, where the communities are also an important part, the BJP-led central government did away with the need for approval from the ministry of law and justice on the draft version of subordinate legislation. It deemed that a one-time review by the law ministry at the time of finalisation of a policy was enough. Accordingly, the draft CRZ law was not viewed by the law ministry and their inputs were not even asked for,” they said in a statement.

“NFF strongly believes the government has ignored maintaining a well-demarcated hazard line and factoring in the effects of climate change on sea levels. Rather than having a policy which improves the lives of the coastal communities and protects the environment, the CRZ 2019 will pave the route for a more disastrous effect where the coastlines will be even more vulnerable. The CRZ 2019 is merely giving more access to the corporate-led lop-sided development where the fish workers, their livelihoods and the environment is completely ignored,” Times of India reported the forum as saying.

“It’s just an eyewash as the government cannot put the new CRZ notification 2019 in force until they complete the Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMPs) as per The NGT order on Original Application Nos. 11/2014 and 424 of 2016 issued on 22nd November 2017. So once the CZMPs is complete the new notification will be in force and the government will certainly amend the notification and will reduce NDZ to the entire state to 50mts, to the detriment of the coastal communities. Therefore, NFF n GRE has demanded the central and state government to withdraw the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 2019 with immediate effect,” they said.

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