Representatives of various organisations of Fishworkers of the North and the South met at New Delhi in India from 17th to 21st November 1997 to find common solutions to the world crisis in fishing. This meeting was organised by the Canadian Council of Professional Fishworkers (CCPP) and the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF-India). It took place soon after a workshop on sustainable fishing held in October 1995 parallel to the FAO Symposium. The 1997 meeting was financed by the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation, the Provincial Government of Quebec and Canadian Automobile Workers. At New Delhi, the participants decided to create the WFFF. A charter was drawn up during the 5 day meet and they also resolved to celebrate 21st November as international day of fishing.

The first international day of fishing (21st November 1998) was observed in many parts of the world. It also coincided with the international year of oceans. Fishermen, consumers of fish, and all those concerned with the conservation of sea and the development of marine ecology met on that memorable day. A new sensitisation programme was launched to create awareness among the public. Both the printed and electronic media gave good coverage to the event. We have good reason to be happy with our efforts and to congratulate ourselves.

Our vision and aim is to establish the following principle: natural resources belong to local populations who have preserved and maintained them. On the other hand, the process of globalisation/liberalisation has authorised all those with a capital, to invest wherever they wish to, without giving a thought to working rights, environment and individual rights. And this, inspite of the fact that the battle between two parties is unequal, where one of them holds the power of money and the other is deprived of it. The World Forum of Fishworkers and Fishharvesters is an organisation that works for the victims of globalisation and for the benefit of all.

A change in models of ownership

To transform this vision into a reality, a radical change in models of ownership is needed. All those who depend on lands, forests and seas must be the owners of these resources. The sea, lakes, rivers, lagoons must belong to the fishing communities since they depend entirely on fishing in these areas for their livelihood. Their fishing device must belong to them as well. The waters must be managed by them, and so must their fishing resources, sale and distribution. The fishing community, women in particular - who see to the distribution of fish - and fishing devices are of great importance.

Identifying the enemy

Our fight is against all individuals, institutions and fishing device that have no respect for ecology and sustainability and who exploit and displace the fishing community. The most dangerous are:

• Big industrial ships, industrial aquaculture and polluting industries
• All the benefiting groups: including those who are not operators and traders.
• All destructive fishing devices

There is an urgent need to mobilise people affected by the demon of globalisation/liberalisation and by some unspecified destructive "development projects". At the same time, we also demand government protection. We need to collaborate and confront governments, States and political leaders.

All this must converge in legislations at the national and international level to lead us towards the socio-political change that we hope for. For instance, it is no longer necessary to prove excess fishing. We owe vigilance to ourselves in order to see how governments bring answers to this question. We must ensure that this problem is neither imported nor exported.

Mobilising populations

People must mobilise themselves to take charge of their resources. Fishing communities must manage waters, be it seas, rivers, lagoons, lakes... They must keep a check on fishing devices, manage sales and distribution. Traditional aquaculture and semi-intensive aquaculture must be encouraged and they must become the fishing community’s property. Consumers of fish should be able to have direct access to these communities. Mobilising populations entails four distinct elements:

• Common action: all those who live off fishing (except those who invest in fishing equipment only to make profit) must come together.

• Sensitisation: people must be systematically informed about the demon of globalisation/liberalisation that has paved the way for excess fishing, destructive fishing device and dwindling fish resources. These factors have made these people strangers in their own sphere.

• Campaign: problems and analyses at the local level and their national and international consequences must be highlighted.

• Training: fishing communities must be trained to manage their resources, sales and distribution. The have been exploited by pitiless bankers, middlemen and traders and have thus lost control over the fruit of their harvest.

The fight and the process of reconstruction must go hand in hand, without any chronological order. These steps can overlap and differ from one place to another depending on the situation. Let us try to achieve these aims. Let us begin the campaign and fight till 21st November 1999, the next international day of fishing.

Thomas Kocherry
Co-ordinator
World Forum of Fishworkers and Fishharvesters

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