The Hindu Business Line : Fishing for security

With a coastline of 590 km fringing the Arabian sea, between north latitudes 8°18’ and 12°48’ and east longitudes 74°52’ and 72°22’ , Kerala has always been open to influences from across the seas. Along with the monsoon trade winds came scores of legendary traders and travellers, all of whom left their marks on the State’s cultural and social make-up. But today, in more trying and less peaceable circumstances, the shoreline of Kerala, among the most densely populated portions of the State, is coming under the official scanner of an enhanced security consciousness.

Last week, the Home Minister, Mr Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, announced that Kerala would rope in fishermen to help strengthen its coastal security to face the potential threats of a sea-borne operation by terrorists.

He said that 66 police stations in coastal areas would be equipped to deal with coastal security. Although the Centre had earlier sanctioned eight coastal police stations for Kerala, these could not be operationalised for want of boats and related infrastructure. Now, the Centre had informed the State that it could hire boats for the police stations. Accordingly, the Minister announced, the first coastal police station would start functioning at Neendakara in Kollam district soon. Earlier, it was announced that the Indian Coast Guard Station at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram was preparing for a major upgradation programme that will equip it with better facilities for marine and aerial surveillance as well as rescue operations.

The enhanced security is proposed to be achieved through the eyes and ears of fishermen. According to the Minister, fishermen could tip off the Coast Guard, Navy and marine police of suspicious activities at sea. The departments concerned have met with fishermen’s organisations to work out the modalities of such a collaborative security measure. The Minister said the government was also working on providing special, prominent identification marks for boats and canoes operating along the Kerala coast. Registration of boats has already been made compulsory.

Most coastal States are taking similar measures. For example, West Bengal, which borders Bangladesh, has strengthened its vigil along the border and intensified intelligence gathering of the possibility of militants sneaking into the State from across its border. “We are trying to strengthen the coastal security; besides the police, the Border Security Force and the Coast Guard have a role to play in this regard,” the West Bengal Home Secretary, Mr Ashok Mohan Chakravarty, was quoted as saying. “Smart cards” would be issued to fishermen for easy identification under a directive of the Union Home Ministry and offshore surveillance would be heightened to a distance of 12 nautical miles from the coast, he said.

Kerala has an estimated fisherfolk population of 11.114 lakh, which includes 8.558 lakh in the marine sector and 2.556 lakh in the inland sector. Of this, the population of active fishermen is estimated as 2.28 lakh. The State has 222 marine fishing villages, with the Alappuzha district being the largest, with a fisherfolk population of 1.86 lakh, followed by Thiruvananthapuram, with 1.83 lakh.

Among the maritime States in India, Kerala occupies the foremost position in marine fish production, accounting for about 20 per cent of the total landings. According to the Economic Review of the Kerala State Planning Board, marine capture fisheries have always dominated the total fish production, compared to inland fisheries. Over the last 10 years, fish production has averaged 5.88 lakh tonnes. The export of marine products from Kerala during 2006-07 was 108,616 tonnes, valued at Rs 1,524 crore, and making up 17.74 per cent in terms of volume and 19 per cent in terms of value of the total marine products exported from India.

Clearly, therefore, the fisheries sector is important for Kerala’s economy. Any enhanced monitoring, control and surveillance of Kerala’s coasts should not be allowed to hamper fisheries-related activities for both the traditional small-scale sector, which uses smaller fishing craft, and the mechanized large-scale sector, which employs motorised boats and trawlers.

Given the fisheries sector’s long tradition of co-operative institutions and self-help groups (including those for women of fishing communities), enhancement in security could draw on the kind of collaborative, community-led initiatives that has worked in different spheres for the coastal areas of the State. Coastal communities should be seen as allies in the effort to ensure peace and security along India’s coasts. For that to happen, education, training, collaboration and trust are required.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

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