"There is widespread sense of outrage amongst the country's coastal communities,' says Harekrishna Debnath, chairperson of the National Fishworkers' Forum. The indignation stems from the loss of

In 2007, the International Labour Organization (ILO) arrived at a consensus on fishing rights and the same year a conventional called

The spiralling fuel prices in the international market have hit European fishing fleets. Angered fishers are blockading ports in several countries. France and Scotland have initiated a

The National Fishworkers Forum has urged the Centre to immediately withdraw the "ill-conceived draft Coastal Zone Management (CZM) notification. For, it will not only adversely impact the fragile ecological system and marine life but also take away the means of livelihood from the 10-million fishing community, representatives of the forum told a press conference here on Friday. "The future of millions of fisherfolk is at stake as the Centre, in league with the governments of coastal States, plans to bring up huge commercial projects along the 8,118-km long coastline.'

The enhancement and diversification of fisheries livelihoods in coastal communities is a critical global concern of governments and supporting organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This challenge became even more critical following the devastation caused by the tsunami.

coastal campaign: The National Fishworker's Forum began a two-month campaign in Gujarat to draw public attention to the centre's move to dilute Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 1991, and

A paper and pulp mill, operating in southern Chile, has pitted a group of fisherfolk against its neighbours and is trying to get away by installing a controversial pipeline to dump waste water from

Fisheries form a major source of employment, income and livelihood for most of the people inhabiting the coastal region. Women in fisheries are in general labelled as imperceptible wokers as their contributions are not adequately apprehended and realized. Fishing in India is the main stay of men but women too play a major role in pre and post harvest activities.

An enormous amount of funds (government, multilateral and non-government) flowed into the coastal areas hit by the tsunami of December 2004. But what has been the quality of rehabilitation and what lives do the survivors

Fishermen risk life and limb to get their catch. Helping them assert their rights is the indomitable Mohammed Ali Shah, chairperson of the Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum and a member of the fishing community. "We educate fishermen about their rights,' he says. "We tell them about the importance of their vote. Without struggle, nobody can achieve their rights.' The World Forum of Fisher Peoples, an international organisation, has ranked the Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum as the largest and most exemplary in the world. April 2008

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