Small-scale fishers in Kerala have asked that India's planned National Plan of Action for Small-Scale Fisheries (NPOA-SSF) prepare their communities for severe weather and climate risks and strengthen social security, AgroSpectrum reports. They also called for women to be formally recognised as fishers and given more say in fisheries policy.
More than 50 delegates, including fishers, women fishworkers, fish vendors, fisher organisations and researchers, attended the consultation at the ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) in Kochi, organised with the Federation of Indian Fisher Organizations. The Union Fisheries Department is holding such consultations across coastal states and union territories, with the Bay of Bengal Programme Inter-Governmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO) as secretariat.
Participants asked for disaster preparedness and climate adaptation to be built into national fisheries strategy, and for compensation for income lost on days when extreme weather keeps boats in. They proposed comprehensive mesh-size rules for sustainable fishing, protection of traditional fishing and tenure rights and more community say in managing marine resources. Women fishworkers stressed their role in processing and marketing and asked for their livelihood concerns to be addressed.
"The inputs will be submitted before the National Taskforce for developing India's National Plan of Action on Small-Scale Fisheries," said Dr Nikita Gopal of CIFT, who led the consultation. BOBP-IGO director Dr P Krishnan said the plan would cover access to resources, sustainable management, decent work, gender equality, climate change and disaster risk.
The task force is to fold the consultations into a draft plan in early November, and the draft is due for public consultation on 21 November 2026, before review, finalisation and notification.
Photo: Hans A. Rosbach / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: AgroSpectrum
Comments
(0)