The Hindu Business Line : Fishing for labour

LAST week, towards the fag end of the 12th Session of the 11th Kerala Legislative Assembly, Mr K. Radhakrishnan, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), raised a submission that received scant attention in the mainstream media (with only the odd Malayalam daily reporting it) but which touched on aspects of the lives and livelihoods of an important but marginalised section of Kerala society - fishing communities.

The subject of the Mr Radhakrishnan's submission was the pitiable condition of the thousands of fishermen who languish in foreign jails on account of having trespassed - often unknowingly - into the waters of neighbouring countries during their fishing expeditions on the high seas. Among them can be found fishermen from Kerala as well.

Replying to the MLA's submission, the Kerala Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, said that the State Government would urge the Union Government to take up the issue with the International Labour Organization (ILO).

In expressing such a commitment, the Chief Minister displayed uncommon cognisance of the role of ILO in ensuring the safety and security of all workers - including, significantly enough, fishworkers, rarely regarded by mainstream trade unions as being an integral part of the proletariat class - as they discharge their duties in varying working conditions.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), India is the third largest fishing nation in the world, after China and Peru. It has the second largest fisher population, behind China. India has the world's fourth largest marine fishing fleet, comprising mostly vessels below 24 m in length. And, importantly, India exports large numbers of workers, particularly from the southern States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, as fishers to the West Asia.

India is also emerging as a distant-water fishing nation, with an expanding fleet fishing in the waters of Myanmar and Indonesia.

In such a context, it is disturbing to note the rather dismal showing of the Union Government at Geneva recently during the voting on the ILO's proposed Convention on Work in the Fishing Sector at the 93rd Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC). The proposed Convention was meant to update and strengthen existing ILO instruments on labour standards - minimum age, medical examination, articles of agreement, accommodation, competency certificates, vocational training and hours of work.

It factors in the changes that have occurred in the fishing sector in the past 40 years, including the impact of globalization. As a comprehensive standard, it also addresses issues not previously considered for persons working on board fishing vessels, namely, occupational safety and health, and social security. Also for the first time, it proposes the protection of persons working on board small fishing vessels.

At the final record vote on its adoption, the proposed Convention did secure the required two-thirds majority but the vote was declared invalid because it did not attain quorum. India, along with some other developing-country governments, especially from Asia, and almost all representatives of employers, decided to abstain from voting, cleverly defusing a Convention that had actually won a clear majority at the record vote.

Artisanal and small-scale fishers worldwide - including the 2 lakh or so fishing population of Kerala, India's most important coastal fishing State - would have benefited greatly from that fishing Convention.

Given the dynamic nature of small-scale fishing in Africa, Asia and Latin America, such a Convention would have improved the living and working conditions on board small-scale fishing vessels that undertake fishing trips of more than three days. It would also have benefited small-scale fishers who work in mother-ship-based fishing operations as well as migrant workers from small-scale fishing communities of developing countries who work on board industrial fishing vessels of developed countries.

It is important that the role of Kerala's traditional, small-scale fishing communities be recognised not just for their contribution towards the nation's seafood exports but also for their environmentally sustainable techniques and practices. Any move to enhance their living and working conditions should therefore be welcomed.

Perhaps the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, can be expected to follow up his remarks to the State Legislative Assembly and exert pressure on the Union Government to throw its weight behind the proposed ILO Convention when it comes up again at the 96th Session of the International Labour Conference in 2007.

Today fishing is the most dangerous occupation on earth. As such, fishers deserve to be assured safe and decent working conditions. Kerala, as India's pre-eminent fishing State, can show the way in making this a reality.

The writer can be contacte at kgkumar@gmail.com

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