National Workshop: 2017 National Policy on Marine Fisheries, India and the SSF Guidelines, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, 19th to 21st July 2019

On July 2019, a National Workshop was organised to develop an implementation plan for India’s National Policy for Marine Fisheries (NPMF), 2017, to discuss the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines).

The workshop held from 19^th to 21^st July 2019 at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, was organised by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF Trust) with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. Over 80 participants with 52 representatives of small-scale-fishing communities from ten coastal states and union territories participated in the programme.

The specific objectives of the workshop were to:

• Develop long-term and short-term action points for the implementation plan of the National Policy on Marine Fisheries (NPMF), with special emphasis on the vulnerable and marginalised groups;
• Integrate elements of the SSF (Small-Scale Fisheries) Guidelines into the implementation plan of NPMF within the framework of a human rights-based approach; and
• Empower fishers and fishworkers, and their organisations by building capacities and raising awareness to implement the NPMF and the SSF Guidelines.

The Workshop had six sessions with presentations from experts on various aspects of the NPMF and it’s connect with the SSF Guidelines apart from group discussions, open forum and plenaries.