Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Plea to ban import of fish

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation has urged the Union government to stop the import of fish under the Free Trade Agreement.

In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, federation State president T. Peter said the present import policy would destroy the livelihood of traditional fisherfolk in the country.

Mr. Peter warned that the import of fish would introduce new health problems in India. “There is no proper mechanism in the country to verify the dose of chemicals used for preservation of fish or to regulate other hazardous substances,” he said.

The memorandum said the fishing community had identified free trade pacts such as the European Union (EU)-India Trade and Investment Agreement, India-Thailand FTA and the ASEAN-India Regional Trade and Investment Area as major threats to their survival. “The initiative of the Commerce Ministry to import fish species such as mackerels, sardines, mullets and anchovies will deny a just price for traditional fishermen and flood the market with subsidised fish.”

The government, it added, was trying to import 40 varieties of fish as a part of the Free Trade Agreement.

“It is impossible to understand the logic of allowing operational freedom for foreign trawlers and at the same time dump their unwanted varieties such as herring in India. If the present policy of the Union government continues, the problem of suicides will also spread to the fishing community like the farmers of this country,” Mr. Peter said.

The memorandum said unscientific practices and destructive fishing methods had led to dwindling fish stocks, affecting the traditional fishermen and their livelihood. “There has been no action on the part of the government to strengthen the capacity of the traditional fishing community in deep sea harvesting,” it said.

The federation alleged that the government decision to provide operating licence to 2,637 foreign trawlers had worsened the situation. “With the help of modern technology, the large vessels are destroying the deep sea resources without let up. Even though the Murari Commission appointed by the government had recommended curbs on foreign trawlers, they continue to operate.”

The memorandum expressed fear that the government move to replace the Coastal Regulation Zone notification 1991 with the Coastal Zone Management plan would destroy the traditional and customary rights of the fishing community.

The proposed CZM notification will cause indiscriminate sand-mining, uncontrolled tourism and hazardous industries to come up in the coastal belt and displace the traditional fishing community from the coastal area, it said.

The federation urged the government to scrap the proposed Coastal Zone Management notification.

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