Mangalore: The Fishworkers’ unions and association and associations across the country expressed their displeasure with the central government over its poor management of the coast, and continued refusal to act on issues affecting the fishing community, said Vasudev Boloor, secretary, NFF Mangalore Unit.
Speaking at the Protest held at Bundar Harbour on August 9, Tuesday he said that the communities are facing a deteriorating quality of life as a result of fish stock depletion due to pollution, degradation of coastal environment, over and destructive fishing dearth of resources necessary for fishing and related activities and displacement due to both encroachments of coastal land by big business and sea erosion affecting housing and other fisheries- related infrastructure.
He also said that around 20 million people are dependent on coastal fisheries located in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Gujarat, Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Goa and West Bengal.
Imposition of restrictions related with state sponsored conservation measures like establishment of Marine Protected Areas, Sanctuaries and Tiger Reserves further constrain their livelihood practices, he added.
It is of utmost concern that even after repeated appeals and talks the legitimate demands of the traditional fish workers are not being met by the central and the state governments. In many cases even the promises given by the government are not kept. Apart from it, to make the situation worse the coastal regulation zone notification and marine fishing regulation acts are not being implemented, hence it must be regulated immediately, he said.