New Delhi/Kochi: The Centre has begun a nationwide consultation with fishing communities to frame a National Plan of Action for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (NPOA-SSF).
The Union Department of Fisheries is leading the exercise, while the Bay of Bengal Programme Inter-Governmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO) is facilitating and coordinating it.
The draft action plan is expected to be released on World Fisheries Day on November 21.
It will then be opened for public review before finalisation and notification in 2027.
Union Fisheries Secretary Dr Abhilaksh Likhi said the consultations were central to the process.
“These consultations are not a formality to be completed before the plan is drafted. They are where the plan is written,” he said.
The plan is aimed at protecting the livelihoods of millions of people dependent on small-scale fishing and allied activities.
The Centre has asked coastal states and Union Territories to hold consultations and submit the views of fishing communities for inclusion in the plan.
Community-led consultations have already been held at Kakdwip in West Bengal and Baleswar in Odisha.
More than 20 consultations are planned across the eastern and western coasts and the island territories.
The Department has asked Fisheries Departments in coastal states and UTs to appoint nodal officers or teams.
They have been asked to organise consultations this month and submit the feedback to the National Task Force drafting the action plan.
The exercise is intended to ensure that the concerns and priorities of fishing communities are reflected in the national policy.
Joint Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Dr Surabhi Rai said the proposed framework must reflect the realities of fishing communities.
The consultations would help record the voices of fishers and fish workers and incorporate them into the policy.
About 30 million people in India are linked to fisheries and allied activities, according to Rai.
The sector also plays an important role in the country’s food and nutritional security.
Fourteen fisher community and civil society organisations have joined the community-led consultation process.
They include the National Federation of Small-Scale Fish Workers, the National Fishworkers’ Forum, and the South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies.
The consultations will cover issues such as access to fisheries resources, sustainable management, livelihood security, decent work, gender equality, climate change, and disaster risks.
The consultations will be held in local languages.
They will include fishers, crew and share workers, migrant fish workers, fish vendors, dry-fish processors, and youth.
Separate discussions will also be held for women and young participants.
The NPOA-SSF is being prepared in line with the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries and India’s National Policy on Marine Fisheries, 2017.
(IANS)
