THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The fisher communities in the state feel betrayed by the state government for allowing a huge investment by a private company to operate ships and manage facilities at the expense of the livelihood of over a million people.
The controversy over the MoU signed for deep-sea fishing between Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) and US-based EMCC International has come as a rude shock to them because the government has not given permit to any vessels in the past five years as part of its stated policy to protect the livelihood of the local fisher community.
Besides, the state’s fishing policy offered support to the local community for deep-sea fishing. Even the state’s budget presented on January 15 earmarked Rs 25 crore for helping the fishermen buy 100 deepsea vessels at a subsidised rate.
“We get a feeling that the state government also supports corporate investment in fishing sector. It goes in line with the national policy,” said Kerala Swatantra Matsyathozhilali Federation (KSMTF) state president Jackson Pollayil.
The fishermen have reasons to be aggrieved, because if the government goes ahead with the Rs 5,000-crore project, 400 new vessels will be added to the already crowded sea front. In the absence of a national law, the sea beyond 12 nautical miles is a free-for-all location where catamarans compete with trawlers to get a share of the dwindling catch. While the regional trawl boat operators are worried about the competition in the deep sea, the traditional fishermen are suspicious about deal.
“The deal has a mention of five mother vessels meant for fish processing. We doubt that it would help in shallow water fishing,” said Jackson. The concerns raised by the fishermen could be far fetched as the project is in a nascent stage. However, they are apprehensive because of the government’s initial reaction. “The minister was evasive when we approached her even before it became a controversy,” said the leader. According to him, it is difficult to comprehend that the minister was unaware of the development.
Experts in the sector said the deal was controversial on many aspects. “The Meenakumari Committee’s report (2015) on deep-sea fishing said the stock is depleting. So adding more vessels would not make any business sense. The new company would find it difficult to get skilled workers as those engaged in the work have vessels under their ownership. It needs to be probed how KSINC got involved in the project without ascertaining the ground realities and the stated government policy,” said A J Vijayan, an activist and an expert in the sector. The issue is likely to be a headache for the ruling LDF ahead of the elections if it fails to take the community into confidence.
Protests ahead
Feb 22: A replica of fishing vessel on Alappuzha beach to be burnt by KSMTF, march to the office of KSINC in Kochi by Fisheries Coordination Committee
Feb 24: A copy of agreement with EMCC to be burnt in Kochi
Feb 27: Coastal hartal by joint protest committee involving boat owners, traditional fishermen and fish workers
March: Protest march to the Secretariat
