Fishermen plan mass agitation KOLLAM, November 14, 2014
IGNATIUS PEREIRA http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/fishermen-plan-mass-agitation/article6597490.ece Fishermen from the mechanised and traditional sectors are joining hands to launch a mass agitation demanding rejection of the 'B.Meenakumari committee report for comprehensive review of the deep sea fishing policy and guidelines'. On December 18, representatives of fishermen organisations across the country will meet at Visakhapatnam to constitute a national-level action committee for launching countrywide campaigns against the committee report. This decision was taken at an executive committee meeting of the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) at Delhi last month. NFF secretary T. Peter said the Visakhapatnam session would chart out an action plan for the campaigns. The first campaign would be by boat from Mangalore to Thiruvananthapuram. Social activist Medha Patkar would flag off the campaign, to be led by Mr. Peter, on November 21, coinciding with International Fishworkers Day. Reception would be accorded to the boat campaign at all major fishing harbours and landing sites along the Karnataka-Kerala coastline. The valedictory function in Thiruvananthapuram on November 30 would be inaugurated by Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan. Former Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies K.V.Thomas, MP, CPI State secretary Pannian Ravindran, RSP general secretary T.J. Chandrachoodan, and BJP leader V. Muraleedharan would address the gathering. Peter Mathias, secretary of the Kollam District Mechanised Boat Operators Association, said the recommendations of the Meenakumari committee report would ruin the fishing sector. He said the report was prepared without consulting any fishing sector organisation based on the western coast. Representatives of the four organisations consulted were all based in Chennai having superficial links with the sector. Their suggestions did not provide a clear picture on the fishing activities along the western coast, which was more vibrant than the eastern coast, he said. The core area of fishing activity now was at depths ranging from 200 to 500 metres, which had been recommended as buffer zone. A ban on fishing on the "buffer zone" would be tantamount to banning fishing itself, he said. "The recommendations give rise to fears of a hidden agenda to permit foreign trawlers exploit the marine wealth of the country," he alleged. ________________________________ Forums to meet at Visakhapatnam in December First campaign by boat from Mangalore to capital ________________________________ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
