The plight of Goa’s traditional fishermen, along with those from other States, was a key topic of discussion at the recent National Fishworkers’ Conference held in Bengaluru. The two-day Perspective Building workshop, organised by the National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF) in collaboration with the National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), brought together representatives from eight coastal States, including Goa, Maharashtra, Kerala and Gujarat.
Leo Colaco, NFF Chairperson, demanded strict implementation of the ban on LED lights and generators used by purse seine trawlers. He emphasised that Goan trawlers entering Maharashtra’s territorial waters have severely impacted the livelihoods of traditional fishermen in the neighbouring State. Olencio Simoes, NFF General Secretary and a prominent voice for Goan fishers, raised concerns about the port expansion plans across the Western coast, including the Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) in Goa.
Simoes warned that these projects could displace lakhs of fishers and called for their immediate withdrawal by the Central government. The conference addressed a wide range of issues affecting coastal communities, including climate change impacts on marine ecosystems, coastal industrialisation, and the recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreement on fisheries subsidies. Participants also discussed disaster management strategies and the implementation of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) guidelines for sustainable fisheries.
Herman Kumara, Secretary General of the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP), inaugurated NFF’s official website and presented a report on the unequal distribution of Central fisheries subsidies towards aquaculture in India. Kumara highlighted that 65% of available fish now comes from aquaculture, a trend he believes is deliberately displacing small-scale fishers globally.