The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ‘Conflict management key to welfare of fish workers’

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Monday, Sep 07, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

‘Conflict management key to welfare of fish workers’

Staff Reporter

Striking a balance biggest challenge facing researchers: expert

‘Social component’ is being included in the planning process
Efforts on to protect interests of fishermen and ecosystem as well

Kakinada: Fish workers are considered one of the most marginalised communities in India in the ‘sustainable livelihoods approach’, wherein dependence on their traditional vocation is the sole parameter taken into account for planning poverty alleviation. The focus is almost entirely on protecting their rights even in a conflict situation, which has varying consequences to the fisher folk themselves and the surrounding ecosystem. Ways to improve living conditions with the least possible impact of their activities on environment are now being worked out at the global level.

New approach

‘Social component’ is since being included in the planning process to supplement economic orientation in order to extricate fish workers from the seemingly perennial deprivation of not just sources of their livelihood but access to the different welfare schemes. This is termed as the ‘well-being / interactive governance’ approach to welfare of fish workers with conservation of biodiversity as the underlying objective.

Means to bring this paradigm shift are being devised by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), which commissioned 11 pilot projects around the world, including one spanning India’s Coromandel Coast. The emphasis is on enhancement of quality of life of fish workers and establishing a truly symbiotic relationship with the fisheries ecosystems, which are dynamic and all the more susceptible to damages caused by anthropogenic activity. The Indian pilot project is being implemented by Madras Institute of Development Studies on behalf of DFID and its partner institution Natural Environment Research Council which is also headquartered in the UK.

Venkatesh Salagrama, Director of Integrated Coastal Management (ICM), a development consulting firm based in Kakinada, who is participating in the above project as an independent expert, told The Hindu that conflict management was the biggest challenge faced by researchers as they were supposed to address the several crucial issues that intersperse matters of livelihood and biodiversity conservation.

Hitherto, the fish workers’ lives and their activity would not be disturbed despite any adverse impact on the fisheries ecosystems. Now, attempts to resolve the conflict situations in such a way that the interests of fish workers are fully protected without resulting in damage to the ecosystems are sought to be made. Though this is easier said than done, policy planners have made the beginning lest the fishing activity should thrive at the cost of environment. Wellbeing of fish workers is the key but conservation of biodiversity is no less important, Mr. Venkatesh observed.

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