The Macchhimar Adhikar Rashtriya Abhayan, a national campaign for the rights of fisher people, has been flagged off by the National Fishworkers` Forum (NFF). The two-month-long campaign commenced from Jakho, the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, on International Labour day (1 May 2008). Since then, the Indian coast witnessed mass mobilisations, through agitations, demonstrations, rallies, reception, public meetings, seminars and press conferences all along its stretch. The campaign traversed 8,000 km throuhgh nine states and reached Kolkata on 27th June. This campaign will be a precursor to the Fisher People’s Parliament March in July 2008.

While inaugurating the campaign, Harekrishna Debnath, Chairperson, NFF, said that the Indian state had no right to encroach upon the traditional and customary rights of the fishers, which they had exercised over a thousand years. He said that just as the land belongs to the tillers so also the coast and coastal waters belong to the fishers.

The Indian coastline, which is approximately 7500 km long, is extraordinarily rich in diversity and its water hosts one of the richest fisheries of the world. About 3.5 million fisher people live traditionally in 3,200-odd villages along the coastline of mainland India. They supply more than 30 lakh tonnes of marine fish, the cheapest source of animal protein to our people. The GDP from the entire fisheries sector is nearly Rs 30,000 cores. India earns Rs 4,200 crores from the export of fish every year.

The NFF has been alleging that the Indian government, both centre and states, is playing to the tune of big business houses and corporate establishments, allowing large-scale encroachment of coastal land and the devastation of coastal resources by the Special Economic Zone  (SEZs) and Special Tourism Zones (STZs), expanding coastal towns, cities, ports and harbours.  Ill-conceived mega projects, rampant reclamation, large-scale mechanised and destructive fishing threaten our coastal environment, marine resources and traditional livelihood. The sea has become the dumping ground for all sorts of toxic wastes and pollutants. The crisis has reached such an extent that a UNEP report, ‘In Dead Water’ has documented how the Indian Ocean has been turned in to one of the major marine zones adversely affected by land-based sources of pollution. The government has now even allowed foreign fishing vessels to fish in our waters.

The social history of coastal India is replete with incidents of traditional fisher`s struggles against coastal encroachments, pollution and destructive fishing gear and practices. Good fish require healthy habitats. The traditional fishers’ struggle for the right to fish has always been linked with the attempts to conserve resources. The protection of marine ecology and resources cannot be thought of as separate from the protection of the livelihood rights of fishers.

In 1991, when the government issued a notification in the form of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), it was the first-ever national statute to protect coasts from developmental activities. However, central and state governments hardly made any serious effort to enforce this notification. On the contrary, the government amended it as many as 21 times under pressure from numerous commercial interests. Now the government is planning to further sell out the coasts to commercial plunder, condoning all the violations of CRZ that have taken place since 1991. It has now issued a Coastal Zone Management (CZM) notification, with the sole intention of further selling out coasts to commercial plunder.

Save the Coast, Save the Fishers: Scrap CMZ Notification

On 20 June 2008, the 7500 km coastline of India witnessed a massive gathering of the fishing community performing dharnas, picketing in front of the central government offices, burning copes of the draft CMZ notification, submitting memoranda, etc. They raised their voice unanimously, proclaiming and demanding the following:

• Don’t sell out our coast.
• Protect the coastal people and ecology.
• Ensure traditional and customary rights for the fishing community.
• Stop the Coastal Management Zone (CMZ) notification of 2008 and implement the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification of 1991.

The decision for nationwide action was taken by the National Fish Workers’ Forum (NFF), following the Government of India’s refusal to heed the fisher community`s plea not to introduce the CMZ notification. “The Government of India has decided to go ahead with their intention of dislocating fishermen and taking away their livelihood by introducing the CMZ notification and scrapping the Coastal Regulation Zone Act,” said Harekrishna Debnath, Chairperson of the NFF.

The draft of the CMZ has been finalised and the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) has floated the document, inviting public suggestions and objections, in accordance with the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The draft was issued on 9 May 2008 and the objections were to be accepted within a period of 60 days, from the date of notification. “This is in spite of objections raised by the millions of traditional fisher people of India, along with activists and civil society groups concerned with conservation of coastal resources and sustainable traditional livelihoods,” said Debnath.

From 2007 onwards, a number of representations were sent to senior officials, including the Prime Minister, the Minster for Environment and Forests, the Secretary to the department, the Minister for Agriculture and the chief ministers of coastal states. These representations demanded that the proposed CMZ notification 2007 be halted, and that the CRZ notification 1991, in its original form with all amendments repealed, be stringently implemented. The MoEF did not heed repeated requests for urgent consultations with all stakeholders.

 “If the CMZ is implemented, a number of new stakeholders will enter the coast. This means our coast will be taken away by the tourism industry, big industrial corporations and aerodromes; and acquired by the government for establishing SEZs. This is snatching the coastal area away from the fishing community—the traditional users of the coast,” said

J John, Executive Director, Centre for Education and Communication. According to him, the implementation of CMZ will have various negative impacts. “Fish workers will either be prevented from direct access to the sea or will have to travel extra kilometres to reach an entry point. They will be denied facilities to land their catch, keep their crafts and mend their nets,” he said. “The CMZ notification, with its logic about coastal development, will destroy rather than protect the coastal environment and marine ecosystem,” he added.

“How can a five-million strong community that lives in 3,200 coastal hamlets and occupies at least 50 per cent of the coastline of the mainland for its livelihood be ignored in a coastal zone planning scenario?” asked V Vivekandandan, Advisor, South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies, Thiruvananthapuram. According to him, the housing and livelihood needs of the fisher folk, admittedly one of the most vulnerable sections of our population, have not been addressed satisfactorily till date. “A huge developmental effort is required to address this. The CMZ concept (as understood from the Swaminathan Committee and the various draft notifications) makes no attempt to tackle this.”

“We have been living here for ages. Now we are being displaced so that the rich can further exploit the coast,” said Debnath. “Around five crore people will be displaced from their place of work and habitat.”

The press release issued by the Ministry states that the objective of the CMZ notification is to protect and develop coastal stretches and the marine environment through sustainable CMZ practices, based on sound scientific principles, taking into account the vulnerabilities of the coast to natural hazards, sustainable livelihood security for local communities, and conservation of ecologically and culturally significant coastal resources.

The CMZ places the management of coastal zones under the Coastal Management Authority, with the setback line determined by the Integrated Coastal Management Plan. There is no defined provision for the involvement of local communities in the management of coastal zones.

It was in this context, considering the urgency of the situation, NFF requested all concerned groups and unions to observe 20 June 2008 as the national day of protest, in line with the previous year’s protest on 9 August, where millions of fisher folk gathered to raise these same demands.

Call for Unity from Kutch to Sundarbans

The movement, among other things, demands that the inalienable, traditional and customary rights of fisher people over coastal lands and waters be recognised; that the CRZ notification 1991 be implemented and the recent CZM notification be rejected; that a comprehensive fisheries legislation for the EEZ waters be developed; that the marine fishing regulation Acts of the states to improve fisheries management and develop coordination mechanism for peaceful inter-state fishing be reconsidered; and a regional mechanism to facilitate reciprocal access to adjacent maritime waters of neighbouring countries be developed. The demands also include that the governments stop making fish workers victims of maritime boundary disputes; recognise and uphold the importance of women`s roles in fisheries and their rights to social security; provide land for fish processing and marketing, basic amenities, child care, credit and transport facilities; and pass a national legislation for fishers in line with the ILO’s Work in Fishing Convention  2007.

The movement is aware that the fishing community is under tremendous attack. While SEZ, CMZ, STZ and industrial aquaculture are overshadowing the coastal zones; imported foreign fishing vessels are plundering the sea. The NFF struggle in 1990 had compelled the government to rescind the deep-sea fishing policy that allowed foreign fishing vessels in our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The high-power Murari Committee recommendations were accepted by the government and it immediately stopped the joint venture. Once again now, the Government of India (GOI) has permitted the operation of deep-sea fishing vessels under joint venture. Letters of Permits (LOP) have already been issued to more than 100 vessels and the news doing the rounds is that the GOI has decided to allow import of 500 vessels under joint venture.

Addressing the large inaugural gathering with other NFF leaders and releasing the detailed itinerary of the campaign and the names of civil society organisations that have been with the fisher folk through thick and thin, Debnath came down heavily on both central and state governments. He warned the government to see reason in the demands of the NFF and called people to stand united from Kutch to Sundarbans. He also called on the fishing community, other coastal communities, students, youth, peoples’ movements, trade unions, civil society organisations and the media to support the ongoing campaign and prepare for a bigger one during the monsoon session of Parliament.