(The AICUFer is a publication of the Aicuf unit based at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Since many may not get their hands on a copy of this magazine, we will be putting up articles from The AICUFer for you!)

The Sea Speaks
- Pranjal Patil (Source: The AICUFer)

Since the dawn of the human civilization, we are witnessing this gimmick on justice by the ‘haves’ of the society. The democratic state is founded on the political wisdom that people are the sovereign authority of the state, and government executes this sovereign power. This means that the government must work for the welfare of the people.
India is the democratic state with a socialistic pattern of the society. Democracy rests on the belief that every individual citizen should get all those rights which are given by the Indian constitution to him to lead a dignified and purposeful life. Simultaneously, socialism provides ‘minimum standard of living for maximum number of people. So, there should not be a wide gap between rich and poor.

But, unfortunately, this is the idealistic state of democracy and the reality is different. Globalization is a burning issue in present days. Economy and economic development play a vital role in the global world. Economic development is the development of the economic wealth of the countries or regions for the well-being of their inhabitants. But, the query is : Is a country considered developed only because of its economic wealth? No. Development refers to improvements in a variety of indicators such as literacy rates, life expectancy, and poverty rates. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a specific measure of economic welfare that does not take into account important aspects such as leisure time, environmental quality, freedom, or social justice.

Obviously, with its positive and beneficial results, India is facing the ill effects of globalization. Globalization reduces national sovereignty by making macroeconomic management of domestic governments difficult. Developed economies are at a better advantage to take care of free trade, thus perpetuating the cycle in later stages of the rich becoming richer and the poor staying where they are.

For instance the Kolis were one of the early settlers in Mumbai. Mumbai was then called ‘Heptanesia’ comprising of 7 islands viz, – Colaba, Old Woman’s Island, Bombay, Mazgaon, Sion, Worli and Mahim. At present, there are Koliwadas or Koli settlements in Mahim, Sion and at Worli. Mazgaon derived from ‘maccha – gaon’ means ‘fish village’. In Bombay Island itself, Mandavi Koliwada and Dongri Koliwada are there to this day, though they are remotely situated from the seashore. In Girgaum we have the Mugbhat. And lastly, the Kolis undoubtedly inhabited the 2 southernmost islands, which thereby acquired the name of Kola-bhat or Kolaba, the Koli Estate (Punekar, 1959).

Fishing was the traditional occupation of the Kolis. In the era of globalization, free trade and an open economy, the importance of the fishing community has gone down.

1. According to the Techno-Economic Research undertaken by TheNational Council of Applied Economic Research in the early 1960s “the fishing industry is moving towards an almost complete shift to a modern sector.” i.e. there is a shift from rudimentary technology to a more sophisticated, modern technology. Hence, today due to modernisation, we can see changes in the organisation of the fishing sector. Since centuries, the traditional fisher folks have been using primitive technology to catch fish and they were content with their lives. The advent of technology posed a threat to the livelihood and culture of the traditional fisher folk. The skills and knowledge of the fisher folk have lost their earlier importance due to the introduction of the modern techniques. The indegenious skills and knowledge of the Kolis is being lost due to mechanization of traditional occupations for the commercial gains.
2. The introduction of the advanced technology of fishing divided the community into two classes – the rich Kolis and the traditional fisher folk. Traditional fisher folks cannot afford such high technology. So, they can’t compete with the people who are equipped with modern fishing tools. The main reason behind the introduction of trawlers was to earn profits. But, it was a matter of survival for Kolis whose life depends upon it being their source of livelihood. Most of them are not educated. They do not possess any other skill other than fishing. So, they are facing a threat to their very existence.

Due to introduction of trawlers in 1960’s and deep sea vessels in 1980’s by the Government of India, the traditional  fishing community is under threat. Foreign trawlers and hi-tech boats for instance are major players now in fishing. For instance there are now 4,500 trawlers in Maharashtra as against the permissible limit of 2,500 (Bunsha 2007). The Fishery Department recommended amendment in the Maharashtra Fisheries Regulation Act, 1981 to prohibit outside vessels (foreign trawlers and trawlers registered outside the state of Maharashtra) from fishing in the 132 km long coastline of Maharahstra (Yeshwantrao, 2008). But this guideline is not being followed.  Very few Kolis use the most sophisticated technology such as purse seine nets or the hi-tech boats. Non-traditional fishermen such as foreign trawlers or hi-tech trawlers which are registered within and outside the concerned states have come to play a big role in fishing. Due to this, very little fish remains for the fisher folk with small boats to catch. They can catch only one or two fishes for a day which  makes difficult for fishermen  to sell them in the market.  and sometimes, they have to return even  with empty hands. Thus, commercial trawlers  eat into their income and livelihood. These poor fisher folk are facing severe competition from the hi-tech boats.  Many have had to sell their boats to make ends meet.

Corporates are also a threat to fishermen. After globalization, there has been a transformation in the fishery sector. It has like other sectors got integrated into the world market. The transformation also brought about changes in both the organization of fishing and of fish marketing Revers 1997). There are a large number of powerful players in the production, sale and consumption of fish. Urban babus may say that the competition is always good. It increases the credibility and quality of the work. But fish is not a manmade commodity and even though it is in abundance in nature. One cannot exploit it in such an unregulated manner. Also large quantities of the fish are exported to the foreign markets. 

Such situations may  compel one to conclude that  the traditional rule of “might is right” plays  a pivotal role even in the civilized and  constitutionally bounded society of today. Those who  can influence the legislative, executive and judicial functioning, can survive here. That is the “survival of the  fittest”. It is called “a social Darwinism” where political and economic weapons are used to suppress the weaker section of. So, it is very necessary to give voice to the problems of fishermen or any other deprived section  of our society and those who are educated, who  have access to judicial means, should struggle for justice and rights of the marginalized.