|
Fisheries sector is facing a crisis as coasts are being opened up to other activities such as beach resorts, nuclear and thermal power plants, hazardous chemical plants, industrial aquaculture and SEZs endangering marine resources and traditional livelihood. A comprehensive policy for regulating marine resources is absent. While ILO has adopted Convention on Work in the Fishing Sector in 2007, there is need to enactment of a National legislation to extend the benefits of the ILO convention in India.
CEC collaborated with a number of organizations in supporting the NFF’s ‘Save the Coast-Save the Fishers’ campaign, which began from Jhakho in Gujarat on May 01, 2008 and ended on June 27, 2008 at Kolkata after traversing about 8100 km of Indian coastline. The major demand of this campaign was a national legislation for fisheries in consonance with the ILO’s Work in Fishing Conventions. At the same time, state level consultations were organized in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Nagercoil, Chennai and Ongole on this issue.
The National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF) Delhi lobby exercise was in culmination of the Machhimar Adhikar Yatra along the coast line of India demanding among other things the withdrawal of the coastal management notification and a national legislation in tune with the ILO’s ‘Work in Fishing’ Convention. The support in Delhi was provided by a network of organizations, in which CEC was a part of; but CEC played the key role in organizing a public meeting at the Constitution Club on the issues raised by the fish workers.
Publications
|
Trade and Labour Rights 
