VASCO: The General Secretary of the National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF), Olencio Simoes lambasted the Central Fisheries Department for finalising and passing the Indian Marine Fisheries (IMF) Bill 2021 during the ongoing 17th Lok Sabha monsoon session without even taking into confidence the stake holders.
In a press statement Simoes said, “This bill is clearly against the traditional fishermen of Goa and will eventually bypass all State regulations as all permission in Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) will be issued by Central Fisheries Department with an agenda to promote recreational fishing like mariculture etc”.
He further said that the entire drafting process of the IMF Bill 2021 has been non-participatory (no traditional fishers were consulted or included in the drafting process) and the Bill was not even translated in the regional languages.
“Furthermore, the IMF Bill (English version) was available on the Department of Fisheries’ website for a few days only and suddenly taken down. This unfair process is being followed previously for Draft National Marine Fisheries (Regulation & Management) Bill, 2019 too. This Bill has been consulted with coastal State MPs before placing the Bill in Monsoon session 2021 through an online mode which was known to NFF through the social media. This approach of the Union Government’s Department of Fisheries unveils that it is strategic exclusion and non-recognition of traditional fishing community”, he added.
“The Forum expresses with utmost disappointment towards this approach and attitude by Union/Central government towards the marine traditional fisheries with regard to fishing in EEZ which is detrimental to the livelihood of the fishers”, Simoes stated.
