National Fishworkers Forum said that for almost six years they have been representing to the central government in support of their demands but have failed to elicit the desired response. Manish Lodhari, secretary of the Forum opined that the main demands of the fishermen and fishing boat owners pertain to release of fishermen languishing in Pakistani jails for long as well as the release of their boats.
He further told that over 500 fishermen are counting their days in various Pakistani jails and 434 boats with an estimated combined worth of around Rs.100 crore are in their custody. There are several fishermen who have already served sentence in jail but still being held in custody for violation of all human right norms.
It is informed that a meeting of representatives of various associations of fishermen and fishing boat owners countrywide was held last week at Porbandar. Federation of Indian Fishery Industries chaired the meeting and decided to support the demands of the Gujarat unit. A delegation of the national body is said to call on Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Union Minister Sharad Pawar to once again forcefully put across our point of view but if the centre persists with its myopic stance.
They have demanded a halt of giving fishing licences to Taiwanese trawlers. Lodhari explained that many trawlers enter Indian waters to fish using zerox copies of the same permit thus violating the law. Additionally, we have no say in the changes being brought about in the Marine Act by the government though we have to bear the brunt of these amendments.
