A grave situation prevails in the mechanized marine fishing sector in India – that of utter lawlessness, deprivation and tyranny. On mechanized fishing boats fishing is done by fish workers, but they lack organisation of their own, so they are unable to represent the mechanized fishing sector. The owners of mechanized fishing boats do not fish, but they have their associations, so they alone represent the mechanized fishing sector. This results in usurpation of all subsidies, loans and other governmental benefits by the owners of the mechanized fishing boats and complete deprivation of the fish workers working on the mechanized fishing boats. For the workers there is no written contract; no general an binding terms of payment; no standardised working hour/overtime; no standardised food, resting place or medical treatment on board; no adequate insurance cover; no medical treatment facilities on land. Government of India, a signatory to the ‘ILO Convention 188 on Work in Fishing’, that recognises the rights of fish workers, has been turning a deaf ear to the demands raised by concerned fishing communities and activists to: *Ratify the ‘ILO Convention 188 on Work in Fishing’; *Enact an appropriate law for implementation of the Convention; *Extend the benefits and securities proposed in the ‘ILO Convention 188 on Work in Fishing’ to all fish workers as applicable. The mechanized fishing boat owners’ association has doggedly opposed the norms, securities and benefits for fish workers proposed in the ‘ILO Convention 188 on Work in Fishing’. The crew on the mechanized fishing boats have raised the banner of opposition to this injustice. They have decided to form their own union and take on the owners to put an end to their age old deprivation. Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum (DMF) has been instrumental in helping them to get organised. In the coming days the owners of mechanized boats are going to lose their monopoly in representing the mechanized fishing sector. The voice of the fish workers is going to be heard on the coasts of West Bengal and reverberate all over the sea shores of India. About 350 crew members of the mechanized fishing boats have resolved to come together and form a trade union of their own. Their first meeting took place at Sagar Island on 4th January, 2017. The united effort of these crew members of mechanized boats, if sustained, will end the rabid exploitation by the boat owners and change the face of the mechanized fishing sector in the country.