>Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 22:16:11 -0400 >From: Eric Fawcett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: sfp lists <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED], > [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: sfp-18: Globalization is ruinous to fisheries >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk > > >Thomas Kocherry along with Herman Daly was awarded the International >environment and development prize, the Sophie prize, on June 24. >His peech on this occasion follows: > >June 15, 1999, Oslo, Norway. > >Dear chairperson and friends, > >Today we are in the context of GLOBALIZATION - LIBERALIZATION. The words >look very attractive, but the vast majority of the people, are the victims >of Globalisation. Globalisation began with COLONIALISM. In the sixteenth >century Europe was overpopulated and the people began to migrate from >Europe to other continents as if they were discovering new places. It >ended up with conquering other places and people. Sword and Cross went >together. They forcefully enslaved and converted natives and indigenous >peoples. They conquered lands, exploited the resources and accumulated >wealth. > >In the 20th century, the world witnessed the uprising of peoples for >political freedom. However economic exploitation continued through >Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) and Trans-National Corporations (TNCs). >But the rich and the ruling class of the newly freed 3rd world countries >generally sided with the MNCs for their own advantage, against the >interest of the common people. Again the natives and the indigenous >peoples were the worst hit. As a result, according to a UN study, today >the 20% Northern minority of humankind has: >82.7% of world gross national product >81.2% of world trade >94.6% of all commercial lending >80.5% of all domestic investment >80.6% of all domestic savings >94.0% of all research and development > >It is in this context that we should understand GLOBALIZATION today. Those >who have more are bound to get more. This means more accumulation and >centralisation. The Northern 20% people are better placed to take away >even the 10-20% of the wealth in the hands of 80% people in the South. The >real Centre is G8 countries and of course the USA is the real centre of >the centre. They are wielding POWER of WEALTH and ARMS. They are placed in >a better position for quick profit at the expense of the vast majority of >people and the environment. All the rest are in the periphery. Thus, >PHERIPHERALIZATION of the vast MAJORITY is the other side of >Globalisation. > >In the period following de-colonisation and political independence of the >Third World (South) countries, particularly after world war II, the >international relationships among the countries at bilateral and >multilateral levels were considered very important and viewed as mutually >beneficial. This language and practice seems to be in the wane today. >The Northern MNCs want to take over the control of UN. If the UN does not >dance according to their tune they will not give their share. They are >more interested in strengthening the WTO than the UN. > >They talk of DEMOCRACY and HUMAN RIGHTS but they have NO CONCERN FOR >PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH. Market economy determines everything, there is no >other value in life. MONEY HAS MORE VALUE THAN PEOPLE OF THE SOUTH. The UN >has become a weak instrument. > >Globalisation is beneficial to those who have. All those who are have-nots >are the victims. Globalisation is a mechanistic process (and therefore >most easily manipulatable by the wielders of power) in the face of which >there is no choice and alternative. This is the most insidious aspect of >this ideology: that it could present itself as the only possible way of >being. It creates a certain sense of inevitability and absoluteness. >Outside Globalisation-and Market Economy, there is no salvation. > >Let me show how this is true as regards the fisheries sector. In the 1990s >fishing reached the point of diminishing returns. Many fish populations >have fallen to levels from which they can no longer recover without >significant reductions in the catches or a moratorium on fishing. There >are simply too many boats catching too many fish. The first surge in >numbers of fishing vessels occurred during the industrial revolution. This >upwell tapered off during the two world wars, but boomed again in the >1950s through 1970s. The world's fishing fleet doubled between 1970 and >1990. > >More than 100 million people in developing countries (South) are dependent >on fisheries for our livelihoods. For us fishing is a way of life, not >just a source of income. The Sea is our MOTHER. Traditionally, small-scale >or artisanal fishers have provided fish for local consumption; but as fish >becomes scarce and its value increases, it enters the global market and >becomes unaffordable for common people. In the process we are displaced >and the MNCs take over completely. > >Most governments, particularly of the North, are trying to prop up an >unsustainable fishery. According to the FAO, every year governments world >wide pay US $ 116 billion to catch just $ 70 billion worth fish. Developed >nations, which have over fished their own waters, have headed into the >waters of the developing nations. The European Union (EU) has around 40% >more vessels than necessary to catch fish on a sustainable basis. Volatile >'fish wars' are a common place. There are more than 1 million large >industrial fleets in the world. They have depleted all the oceans in the >world. They have become a threat to the 100 million fisher people in the >world. Further these have organic > >The fresh fish caught by the industrial vessels are converted into >fishmeal for the production of shrimp. Ten thousand tons of fish that >would have been available for common people are converted into fish-meal >to produce one thousand tons of shrimp that only the rich can afford to >buy. Further coastal shrimp industry depletes fishing grounds, salinates >drinking water, destroys mangroves and displaces fisher people and >agriculturists who depend on these resources for their livelihood. >Further, the North American Free Trade Agreements (NAFTA) have shifted >polluting industries to the coastal belts of the developing nations, >threatening the very lives of small fishing communities who are totally >dependent on fishing and fishing alone. > >All over the world the victims of Globalisation -the small fishing >communities- are realising the need of coming together to establish our >right to life. We want to establish our right as persons. > >The World Forum of Fish harvesters and Fishworkers is the result of this >realisation. The Forum is involved in a campaign to establish the right of >the fishing communities to own the water- bodies, including seas and >rivers, fishing implements and distribution of the catch. The management >of the distribution of the catch should be done by the fisherwomen. We >have declared November 21 as WORLD FISHERIES DAY to claim and to campaign >for this right. We wish to establish our right by exercising our duty, >even through struggles and sacrifices. The 10 million fisher people in >India were able to change the government policy of Joint and Lease Fishing >through long standing struggles. The Canadian Fisher People have been >fighting against huge fishing vessels. The Gloucester Fisherpeople in the >USA, particularly the wives of fishermen, have succeeded in banning >factory trawlers through a legislation. In Senegal, fisher people are on a >war path against destructive fishing. In Brazil the fisherpeople are >involved in a struggle against predatory fishing. In Pakistan and in South >Africa the fishing communities are struggling to establish their right to >life. Thus the fisher people both in the North and South, who are victims >of Globalization, are involved in establishing a new paradigm of >Development and Politics. > >We, the fisher people in India, are part of a larger alliance - the >National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM)- all of whom are victims of >Globalization. There are over 150 peoples movements in this alliance, not >only struggling to survive, but searching for alternatives to the present >form of development which in the long run is destructive for all. It is >through these struggles that the whole of humanity is going to be saved. > >True development is not by conquering and enslaving, not by accumulating >and centralizing, not by displacing peoples and destroying cultures. True >development is only by integrating and working together, through >distributive justice and decentralisation by nurturing and including >Native and Indigenous peoples. It is here that the struggles of the >victims of mega dams in India can be understood. There are 3600 mega dams >in India. These have displaced 50 million natives, tribals and >fisherpeople and have proved to be MASS DESTRUCTIONS rather than >DEVELOPMENT. These victims are involved in a long standing struggle to >create a new paradigm of DEVELOPMENT, where native skills and technologies >are enhanced, small is accepted as beautiful and sustainable and >simplicity has become a way of life with due respect to native cultures. >We have gone to the extent of JALASAMATHI- sacrificing ourselves in the >rising reservoirs- rather than inflicting violence upon others, for the >creation of this new paradigm. Right now, about 400 leaders, representing >different movements in India -Farmers, Fishworkers, People displaced by >the Narmada project and others- are in Europe campaigning against MNCs, >TNCs and the WTO. For the first time such a mass campaign is taking >place. The victims of GLOBALIZATION are asserting their rightful place in >this planet. We feel an urgent need to create a new paradigm of >development and politics, a paradigm in which all human beings have right >to live, with equal access to the resources and opportunities. Development >cannot be measured solely by the quantity of production, but by its >sustainability by its capacity to protect the livelihood of all human >beings. Production should be coupled with distributive justice. There is >no Development for the sake of Development. True Globalisation should make >free movement of labour unhindered by national boundaries. Let the year >2000 be a real Jubilee Year; let the debts of the developing countries be >wiped out; and let all nations experience true freedom and equality. > >THE LIFE OF THE PLANET AND THE DEPENDENT HEALTH AND WELFARE OF >HUMANITY MUST NOT BE SACRIFICED TO THE GREED OF THE FEW. >**************************************************************************** > >Thomas Xavier Kocherry >Co-ordinator, World Forum of Fish-harvesters and Fishworkers [WFF] >Co-ordinator, National Alliance of Peoples Movements (India),[NAPM] >Velankanny, Junction, Valiathura, Thiruvananthapuram 695 008,INDIA >Phone & Fax: +91 - 471 - 50 1376; >E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: >http://www.south-asian-initiative.org/wff >
