*Traditional fishers plan Parliament march* http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/traditional-fishers-plan-parliament-march/article7042460.ece
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT The traditional fishermen community in the State is preparing for a mass mobilisation as part of a nationwide agitation against the threats posed by the neglect of the sector by the Central government and the restrictions imposed on fishing activities at sea. The National Fishworkers Forum (NFF), spearheading the agitation, is planning to take out a march to Parliament on April 22 urging the Union government to scrap the B. Meenakumari Committee report on deep-sea fishing policy and cancel the Letters of Permit (LoPs) issued to foreign fishing vessels. The forum wants the Centre to create a separate Ministry for fisheries and protect coastal areas from land grabbers. The NFF is also putting up stiff resistance to the move to extend the monsoon fishing ban from 45 to 61 days for all motorised boats, including those fitted with outboard engines, as recommended by the G. Syda Rao Committee. "There is a concerted move to open up our fishing grounds to corporate powers even as more restrictions are being imposed on traditional fishing activities. This constitutes an infringement of our rights and threatens to rob us of our livelihood," says T. Peter, secretary, NFF. "To make things worse, the budget allocation for the fisheries sector has been slashed by Rs.10 crore." *Coastal hartal* on Meanwhile, the Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee has issued a call for a coastal hartal in the State on April 8 to highlight the threats faced by the traditional fishers. Fishermen will stay away from work and fish markets will down shutters. -- 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.
