The Hindu Business Line : Fishermen plan agitation from November 21

TRADITIONAL fishermen across the country are planning to stage an agitation from November 21, the World Fisheries Day, to highlight their problems and grievances, according to Mr Harekrishna Debunath, President of the National Fish Workers' Forum.

In an interview here on Saturday, after touring some of the coastal districts along with Father Thomas Kochari, another activist working for the traditional fishermen, Mr Debunath said the position of traditional fishermen was getting worse by the day in the country and the tsunami had compounded the problem of already depleted fish stocks.

``Bottom trawling, mechanised (high-tech) fishing have already depleted the stocks. The tsunami has aggravated the problem. There is no proper rehabilitation package for the tsunami-hit fishermen. There is no transparency in relief work,'' he said.

Though there was not much loss of life due to tsunami in Andhra Pradesh, there was loss of fishing gear and the fishermen were facing the same problems as in the other areas in the aftermath of tsunami, he said.

Mr Debunath said the advanced nations (G-8) were trying to make inroads into the fisheries sector in the country through several means.

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Fishermen plan agitation from November 21