02 Jun 2020  |   06:34am IST

Migrant fish workers trapped in a net of uncertainty & loss

While the principle worry for many in Goa during lockdown was their supply of fish, it’s time to turn our attention to the plight of those who bring the fish to us. There are 8000 of them and they are not Goans. With the fishing ban kicking in, their means of earning will be further blocked, their boat owners haven’t paid them and now, they just want to go home
Migrant fish workers trapped in a net of uncertainty & loss

By Oishorjyo;

Come June, Goa is likely to see a surge of approximately another 8000 migrant workers waiting to return to their native states. These are migrant fish workers, who have continued to work in the fishing sector in Goa through the lockdown period - every year, between the months of August and June, these seasonal workers who hail from various states across the country are employed on fishing boats as well as in allied industries like ice factories, net repairs etc. 

With the fishing season along the West Coast coming to an end, these workers will be looking to travel back to their homes in the coming weeks. 

According to a letter from the (Central) Department of Fisheries dated May 26, the annual fishing ban along the West Coast, which usually begins from June 1, has been pushed back to June 15th this year. Toeing the line, the State of Goa, has also reduced the fishing ban to the said 47 days (instead of the usual 61 days), effectively allowing fishing in the coastal waters till June 15. 

While this comes as an attempted affirmative measure, to help the fisherfolk make up for the 17 days they lost during the lockdown 1.0 period, in Goa, according to Olencio Simoes, Chairperson of the National Fishworkers Forum it’s ‘intended’ corrective effect has hardly trickled down to the actual fisherfolk - especially those that don’t run mechanised fleets; and far less to the interest of the migrant fish workers, who work both in the inland and marine fishing sectors.  

At the Chapora Jetty, 56-year-old Vasudev, operates a trawler that employs 7 migrant workers from Madhya Pradesh. His was one of the last few boats operational from the jetty, which in full season, runs up to 41 boats - with close to 250 migrant workers. In most cases, the workers live on the boat itself, or in temporary shelters close to the harbour. However, as the ban season kicks in and most boats go into repairs - homelessness is a looming question for these workers. 

Despite the fishing ban being pushed back, Vasudev can no longer afford to send his trawler back into the sea. He has helped his workers register at the local Panchayat, but is unsure how the next few days will play out - “the onus”, he suggests “now lies on the Department of Fisheries.” The lockdown period has been exceptionally hard on small fishers like him – not only has he lost considerable income but has also had to ensure that during this period, the workers had enough food and rations. With no aid received from the State or the Central government, this has been more than taxing. 

While Vasudev is waiting for his diesel subsidy to come in from the government, his workers (who now live on the 

boat harboured right beside

 the jetty) are in turn, waiting for 3 months of their salary. 

They do not have a permanent shelter, nor the means or money to go back home yet. With the onset of the monsoons, their makeshift shelter is likely to give way.

In Goa, the lockdown period has been particularly difficult for the migrant fish workers, most of whom under orders from the boatowners, have continued to work despite the pandemic. The reduction of the ban period has dealt a further blow to their interests. “Most workers were hoping to get their wages by June 3 and head back home to their families”, notes Siddharth, whose work with The Research Collective looks at policies in the Fisheries sector and their impact on the lives and livelihood of fish workers. 

At Cutbona, one of the bigger jetties in Goa - the 300 boats that run, employ over 4000 workers from Orissa, Jharkhand, and Chattisgarh. Savio D’Silva, President of the Cutband Boat Owners Society, notes that if the weather conditions are favourable post the initial week of forecasted heavy rain, the boats will continue to be operational till the extended date of June 15. 

The Cutband Society has in effect, made a request to the fisheries department to allow them to retain the workers during the (now reduced) 47-day lean period, with a payment of 50% salaries, and the provision of food and shelter. The Society, in its letter to the department highlights, that it would prefer to retain the workers than pay Rs 2500 per day charges of quarantine to reinstate them at the beginning of the next fishing season.  But according to Savio “it will be difficult to get the workers to stay back. Most of them want to leave.” 

The migrant fish workers are a community on the absolute fringes - either way, they receive the short end of the stick. “Goa easily employs about 12,000 – 15,000 migrant workers put together in the mechanised and non-mechanised sectors, as well as the allied industries.” notes Siddharth.  “These workers are not unionised, leaving them vulnerable to arbitrary policy changes, as well as to the whims and benevolence of their employers and civil society at large.” 

A standard fish worker, employed on a fishing vessel makes between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 monthly, depending on their rank and position on the boats. As the pandemic unfolded, however, the workers - most of whom don’t own either cellphones or twitter accounts, continued working without any agency, or support. For boats that did not operate amidst the initial confusion, the economic losses borne typically by the boatowners were passed on to the workers in the form of non-payment of wages. 

Further into the lockdown as work trickled low, and the fishing industry in Goa operated at reduced capacity (the ice-factory in Malim for example, which now operates with 50 workers as opposed to 150 workers before the lockdown),  many workers were left with no choice but to shell out exorbitant amounts of money to make their own way home. A group of 54 fish workers who left from Vasco, paid Rs 11,000 per head, to board a bus home to Andhra Pradesh. 

Following these concerns, in a letter dated May 28th, Siddharth along with other concerned citizens of Goa, under the Goa People’s Voices- COVID 19 Response, have requested the Government of Goa and the DoF for an urgent and timebound intervention to help repatriate the migrant fish workers with 

‘Machuara (Fishworkers) Special’ trains/buses 

“The InterState Movement Cell is anticipating the movement of migrant fish workers, after the fishing ban, and is seeking an assessment of the fisheries department for efficient planning”, says Kunal, IAS, who is the State In-charge for the InterState Movement Cell. 

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Siddharth notes that the fisheries sector altogether has not seen any kind of relief measures from the Central or the State governments. the chaos that unfolded led to immense hardships for fish workers everywhere - lack of adequate living conditions, the denial of food and water, the non-payment of wages. This eventually led to the death of migrant fish workers in Gujarat and Maharashtra. “We are trying to avoid similar situations here,” adds Siddharth.

 

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