Proceedings of the Indian Ocean Conference: Forging Unity: Coastal Communities and the Indian Ocean's Future Item Type monograph Publisher International Collective in Support of Fishworkers Download date 26/09/2021 16:51:56 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/21127 International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) International Ocean Institute (IOI), India Forging Unity: Coastal Communities and the Indian Ocean’s Future Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India 9 to 13 October, 2001 Conference Proceedings International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) 27 College Road, Chennai 600 006, India. Forging Unity: Coastal Communities and the Indian Ocean’s Future Proceedings of the Indian Ocean Conference held at IIT Madras, Chennai, India, 9-13 October 2001 Edited by K.G. Kumar Layout and LATEX composition by Satish Babu Body text set in 10pt Palatino Printed and bound at Sri Venkatesa Printing House Chennai 600 026, India Published by International Collective in Support of Fishworkers 27 College Road, Chennai 600 006, India Tel:+91-44-2827 5303 Fax: +91-44-2825 4457 Email: [email protected] Website: www.icsf.net or www.icsf.org Copyright c ICSF 2003 Recommended contribution: US$15 While ICSF reserves all rights for this publication, any portion of it may be freely copied and distributed, provided appropriate credit is given. Any commercial use of this material is prohibited without prior permis- sion. ICSF would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. The opinions and positions expressed in this publication are those of the authors concerned and do not necessarily represent the official views of ICSF. ii To the memory of Elisabeth Mann Borgese (1918–2002) and Maizan Hassan Maniku (1953–2002) iv Contents Preface ix Foreword xi Message from International Seabed Authority 1 Ambassador Satya N. Nandan Message from IOR-ARC 2 D. Dusoruth The Indian Ocean Conference: An Overview 5 ICSF Secretariat Forging Unity: The Agenda 9 John Kurien Managing the Indian Ocean Fisheries: A Collective Responsibility 11 Nita Chowdhury Ocean Governance and the Village 15 Elizabeth Mann Borgese Indian Ocean Coastal Communities: Sculpting a Vision for the 21st Century 21 Maizan Hassan Maniku Ecosystem Considerations for Managing Marine Fisheries in the Indian Ocean 32 E.Vivekanandan International Instruments for Managing Fisheries in the Indian Ocean 41 Rolf Willmann The SADC Marine Fisheries and Resources Sector Co-ordinating Unit 74 SADC Secretariat Crossing Maritime Borders: The Problem and Solution in the Indo-Sri Lankan context 76 V.Vivekanandan Issues Related to Deep-sea Fishermen and Their Families Due to Detention in Foreign Countries 90 Herman Kumara The Elusive Line that Reduces Fishworkers to Mere Numbers 95 Souparna Lahiri v Illegal Fishing in Seychelles: A Review of its Implications for a Small Island Developing State 101 Rondolph Payet Illegal Fishing in Seychelles 109 A. Napier Threats to the Natural Resources of Small-scale Fishermen of North Sulawesi 114 Ronald Z. Titahelu The Demise of the Traditional Fisher Peoples 116 Andrew Johnston Dilemma of Small-scale Fishers at the Dawn of Industrial Fishing in Kenya 118 S. Mucai Muchiri What Does the Future Hold for Malagasy Coastal Communities? The Role of Traditional Fisheries 122 Felix Randrianasoavina Illegal Fishing: The Case of Mozambique 128 Simeo Lopes and M. A. Pinto Status and Trends of Tanzania’s Marine Artisanal Fisheries 132 Narimman Saleh Jiddawi Coastal Marine Ecosystem through Community Management 139 Pisit Chansnoh Coastal Area Degradation on the East Coast of India: Impact on Fishworkers 143 Venkatesh Salagrama Coastal Zone Conflicts in Maharashtra 156 Ram Bhau Patil Problems of Fishers of Gujarat 158 P.V. Khokhari Coastal Resource Degradation and User-right Abuse in Bangladesh: An Overview 160 Prosanta K. Roy The EU as a Distant-water Fishing Power 172 Michael Earle EU Interventions in the Fisheries Sector in the Indian Ocean 179 B´eatriceGorez The Social Clause in the Fishery Agreements signed between EU and Countries of the Indian Ocean 190 Jean-Marc Barrey Economic and Social Implications of Multi-Day Fishing in Sri Lanka 192 Oscar Amarasinghe vi Report of Working Group I 207 Report of Working Group II 212 Vision Statement (English) 214 Vision Statement (French) 218 Vision Statement (Spanish) 222 Appendix 1: Conference Programme 227 Appendix 2: List of Participants 234 Appendix 3: Coastal Area Profiles of Selected Countries in the Indian Ocean Region 241 Posters 285 Maps 289 vii viii Preface In no other part of the world have there been as many inci- dents of fishermen being killed, fired on, arrested or detained as in the Indian Ocean, consequent to countries of the region adopting the 12-nautical mile territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) regime. Nonetheless, these very nations have not recognized the gravity of these problems sufficiently enough to deal with them with alacrity. In the last decade of the 20th century, according to press reports, about 200 fishermen were shot dead in the region, and hundreds injured. Since 1998, about 1,600 fishermen have been arrested and detained. While death by firing was mainly confined to the waters between India and Sri Lanka, arrests and detention have been re- ported from all over the Indian Ocean Region. Egyptians arrested by Eritrea; Eritreans by Yemen, Sri Lankans by Somalia, Seychelles, Maldives and India; Indians by Somalia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mal- dives and Bangladesh; Pakistanis by Iran and India; Burmese by Bangladesh and India; Thais by India, Bangladesh and Myanmar; Indonesians by India and Australia—thus from the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea, from the Bay of Bengal to the Indian Ocean, there are hundreds of cases of fishermen being arrested and detained for un- dertaking fishing activities or for just being found drifting in the waters of other nations. Many incidents are reported from coun- tries with adjacent maritime zones, mostly between countries that are economically poor. It was the heart-rending stories of arrested fishermen, whose only crime was to fish for a livelihood, the total denial of even nat- ural justice, and the plight of their families that prompted the In- ternational Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) to think of organizing a conference to highlight these issues. Thus was born the Indian Ocean Conference, titled Forging Unity: Coastal Commu- nities and the Indian Ocean’s Future, held at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai between 9 and 13 October 2001. We conceived the conference as a forum for representatives of fishworker organizations, governments, the academic community, and other non- governmental and multilateral organizations to sit together and discuss the transboundary problems of fishworkers of the Indian Ocean Region, so as to come up with solutions. The final goal was to arrive at a Vision Statement that would put forth con- crete proposals to influence governments in addressing such dis- tressing problems. From an Indian Ocean perspective, we also realized, while plan- ning the conference, that the region had sufficient fisheries resources that could be equitably shared amongst the riparian States using se- lective fishing techniques and small-scale fisheries. We, finally, de- cided to maintain a broader focus and discuss not only transbound- ary issues but also other issues that concerned the coastal fishing communities of the region. ix It took us four years to organize the conference. During this period, the idea of the conference went through several revisions. There were several debates on whether or not the conference should address only fisheries issues. Although historically an important ocean, we realized that, in the post-colonial era, there has been very little contact between the riparian communities of the Indian Ocean Region. We thus considered the conference as an important oppor- tunity to explore the idea of an ‘Indian Ocean community’ by bring- ing together representatives from all frontiers of the Indian Ocean (with the exception of the Middle East). In this sense, the confer- ence was unique, as it attracted people from all around the Indian Ocean, from East Africa to Southeast Asia, and from the southern small island States in the Indian Ocean to South Asia. In organizing the conference, we sought the collaboration of the International Ocean Institute (IOI), which focuses on the peaceful and sustainable use of the oceans and its resources, through opera- tional centres in Asia and Africa. The late Professor Elisabeth Mann Borgese, Founder, IOI, was to inaugurate the conference. In the af- termath of the unfortunate war in Afghanistan, she was unable to inaugurate the conference since she apprehended disruptions in air travel to India from Europe. We were also unsure how many of the invited participants would finally attend the conference, but, to our surprise, all invited participants, except two, were able to partici- pate. This publication, the Proceedings of the Indian Ocean Confer- ence, is dedicated to the memory of two distinguished persons: Elis- abeth Mann Borgese, a pioneer in international legislation to pro- tect the world’s oceans, who passed away on 8 February 2002, and Maizan Hassan Maniku from Maldives, a member of ICSF and a marine scientist who passionately believed in the idea of an Indian Ocean community, who passed away on 13 July 2002. Sebastian Mathew International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) 28 January 2003 x Foreword It is said that 60 per cent of the world’s population lives within 60 km of the coastline and that this figure would increase to 75 per cent within the next decade or two. Even if these figures are off the mark, the fact remains that there is a steady movement of the popu- lation towards the coast. At the same time, there is also a continuing depletion of the natural resources of the coastal zone and the coastal waters.