Team Goemkarponn
VASCO: The National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) participated in a two-day national workshop on aligning India’s National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries with the global process, held at Narendrapur in West Bengal. The workshop was organised by the Institute for Motivating Self Employment (IMSE) in collaboration with the East Coast Fish Workers Union (ECFWU).
The meeting brought together fishworkers’ organisations, trade unions, researchers and civil society representatives from across the country to discuss the need for India’s fisheries policies to be aligned with the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (VGSSF).
Addressing the workshop, NFF general secretary Olencio Simoes said that the implementation of the FAO guidelines was crucial for the survival and security of millions of fishers. He pointed out that India had endorsed the guidelines in 2014, but even after 11 years, they remain unimplemented. In contrast, neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka have already taken concrete steps, he said, adding that the continued delay in India was causing serious hardship to fishworkers.
Simoes said that effective implementation of the VGSSF would strengthen social security, economic stability, livelihood protection and human rights of fishers. He noted that fishers across the country are increasingly losing their livelihoods due to climate change, destructive fishing practices and environmental degradation. He also said that a large number of traditional fishers continue to be denied official recognition and legal rights to fish in marine, riverine and inland water bodies.
Raising concern over rapid and unplanned coastal development, Simoes said such projects are not only undermining traditional fishing livelihoods but are also displacing fishing communities from their homes and coastal habitats.
The NFF demanded that the Centre and the fisheries department ensure the active involvement of all stakeholders, particularly fishers’ organisations, at the drafting stage itself, so that the implementation of the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines follows a holistic, inclusive and rights-based approach.
Simoes said the NFF is willing to work with the government to ensure the effective implementation of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Small-Scale Fisheries in India, in order to safeguard the livelihoods, dignity and rights of fishers.
