I read
Champika Liyanaarachchi’s report captioned ‘Sri Lankan Army on Collision Course
With Fishermen’ with concern. Indeed the damage caused to coral reefs due to
the construction of landing sites has to be taken seriously. However, it is not
fair at all to stop at the most proximate cause of the problem and impose a
quick fix in the name of saving the environment. That may not be a solution and
it could well become yet another problem aggravating an already complicated
situation. The fishermen of Jaffna, like their counterparts elsewhere, are
quite aware of the importance of conserving the coral reefs in their fishing
grounds. The construction of landing sites in prohibited areas by the fishermen
is a reflection of the desperate situation of a community, which is among the
worst hit civilian victims of the protracted war in Lanka. Their right to
livelihood and personal security has been continuously violated. However, their
plight did not draw the attention of human rights activists for a long time.
These fishermen have not only been denied access to their traditional fishing
grounds and landing sites because of the High Security Zones but are also being
subject to a host of spatial and temporal restrictions on their mobility in the
sea around the peninsula and in its lagoons. In the more restricted areas, they
have to use fixed points of entry and exit. The coastline in these areas is
fenced with barbed wire. Moreover, the pass system enforced by the Lankan Navy
restricts their movement to particular areas while not permitting them to
return to the coast with their catch before six in the morning. With such
restrictions, it is not so easy for hundreds of fishermen to share existing
landing sites or to choose environmentally safe areas to construct new ones. In
the light of this, I would like to pose two simple questions. What does the
Ministry of Defence expect the fishermen to do when it is unable to handle a
problem that is causally linked to its own policies and practices in the name
of security? Is it wrong on the part of the fishermen to expect the Ministry to
adopt a more enlightened approach that enables reconciliation and livelihood
construction?
The
situation calls for more sensitive, more creative and more humane ways of
enabling the fishing communities to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. The
Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), the opening up of the A9 highway and the improved
communication links between Jaffna and the rest of the country provide a
favourable environment for interventions that facilitate individual and
collective initiatives by fishermen to rebuild their lives and revive fishery
in Jaffna. However, the government has not been able to frame a creative and
sensitive policy to enable the fishing communities to take advantage of the
favourable environment. By failing to do this, the government is also missing
an opportunity to win the confidence of these communities. I have been to
various parts of the coastal regions of Jaffna and have had discussions with
many fishermen and office bearers of Fishermen’s Cooperatives. Everywhere, the
main grievance aired was the denial of the fishermen’s fundamental right to
fish without harassment. They told me that the pass system, restrictions on
mobility and harassment in the name of security checks by Navy personnel make
them feel like aliens and poachers in their own fishing areas. Is this an
acceptable state of affairs in the North today, more than 20 months after the
CFA?
Years of
ban and restrictions on fishing in the Northern waters have helped a
progressive expansion of the resource stock and hence a significant growth in
harvestable surpluses. This should provide a favourable situation for a quicker
recovery of the livelihoods of the fishing families (while benefiting the
regional and national economies). Indeed the accumulated harvestable surpluses
are rightfully theirs. However, the much-needed interventions, which include
more socially sensitive and development-oriented policies and material support,
have yet to be made. Fishing by local fishermen seems to be one activity that
remains more or less completely subordinated to the security considerations and
priorities of the government in the North. The security concerns are
understandable but the policies and practices should not be counterproductive
at a time when rehabilitation of the war-torn communities is an absolutely
necessary condition for peace building. More unfortunately, foreign fishermen,
including big companies using capital intensive technology, are illegally
capturing the benefits of the large stocks of high value resources available in
our northern sea at the expense of the local fishing communities and the Lankan
economy. Moreover, the danger of the resource stock being depleted due to over
fishing by these big time poachers looms large.
It was
reported (Sunday Times, 17 August 2003) that 34-36 foot Indian trawlers with
90-120 horsepower (hp) engines were illegally operating in Sri Lankan waters
off Jaffna regularly and the Sri Lankan navy had turned a blind eye to poaching
by Indians while strictly enforcing the pass system on Jaffna’s fishermen. The
fishermen of Jaffna are not permitted to use larger than 15 hp engines. In
fact, most of them use small second hand boats with 8 hp engines. Obviously
these small-scale fishermen are not capable of competing with the poachers who
use powerful trawlers, which have on occasions toppled the small boats of the former
and also cut through the fishing nets laid by them. We have also heard from local fishermen that the trawlers caused
damage to corals and breeding grounds.
Currently,
fishing remains banned along some 81 km of the 379 km of the northern
coastline. In the early 1980s, around 22,500 families depended on fishing for
their livelihood in the peninsula. The majority of these families were
displaced during the war. Many of them were displaced more than once and a
considerable number sought refuge in India. Displaced fisher families began to
return to Jaffna since mid-1996 and by 1998 some 8600 families had returned.
This trend accelerated after the CFA. Today, more than 60% of the peninsula’s
displaced fishing families are back although not all of them are living in
their own original homes or villages. Many of the displaced families are still
living in welfare camps ‘like fish out of water’ as an elderly displaced woman
in a camp in Uduvil told me in August 2003. The same woman also said that for
her peace meant being able to return with her family and others to their native
village of Myliddy and revive their lives as a fishing community. The vast
majority of Jaffna’s fishermen lack the means to rebuild their basic capital
stock. A considerable number (probably about a quarter of the total number of
fishermen) is unable to do any fishing at all as they are displaced and
pauperised. This group also includes female-headed households. The recently
concluded Needs Assessment Survey reported that more than 90% of the boats,
engines and gear might have been lost or rendered unusable in Jaffna.
A Summary of the main problems and some possible measures to enable livelihood and regional economic revival in Jaffna’s fishery sector
The North,
which once produced over 25% of the country’s fresh fish and 57% of the dry
fish output and was an exporter of high value sea food to East Asia, continues
to face serious constraints to the revival of its fisheries even 20 months
after the signing of the CFA. The deprivations and violations suffered by the
fishing communities in Jaffna call for urgent action to enable these victims of
the war to rebuild their livelihoods and regain their human dignity.
The matrix
below gives an overview of the main problems and some ideas regarding short and
medium term solutions. It should be evident that there are some choices for the
government in the current phase if it is really keen to ease the hardships of
the fishing communities. The government may choose a combination of measures
without seriously compromising its security priorities. A deeper exploration of
the possibilities may help find more innovative alternatives. The LTTE also has
a role to play. It should not tax the small fishermen and fish vendors. It
should encourage its development agencies to play a more active role in
assisting the fishermen to rebuild their livelihoods.
Main problems |
Possible short and medium –term solutions |
|
Heavy restrictions on fishing, harassment by security personnel;
Insecurity felt by fishermen |
Review the current situation in consultation
with representatives of fishermen’s cooperatives and District fisheries
officials. Consider removing or reducing spatial and temporal restrictions on
fishermen’s mobility in lagoon and sea. Permit the use of larger than 15 hp
engines (raise the upper limit on hp). Permit fishermen to return to shore
after finishing fishing without having to wait till 6 am. Practice a more dignified enforcement of the
pass system. Reorient and conscientise the security forces that today their
role also involves assisting the fishermen to rebuild their lives. Develop
better public relations with the fishermen and make them feel that the
government is doing its best to support the reconstruction of their
livelihoods. |
|
Lack of fishing boats and equipment §
Many fishermen depend on old second hand boats with inefficient 8 hp engines
and inadequate equipment. Jaffna had more than 550 3.5t trawlers in 1990 but
it has none at present. OBM boats, vallams and catamarans have also been
reduced. |
Revive/ strengthen Fishermen’s Cooperatives
(FCs). Mobilise funds to provide grants and to set
up revolving funds to extend credit to needy fishermen to rebuild their
capital stock through FCs; Revive the boat building and fishing net
industry in Jaffna |
|
Lack
of cold storage §Loss
of marketable surplus due to lack of storage and timely collection by tradersà loss of income |
Provide cold storage facilities; Improve
collection |
|
Lack
of efficient marketing facilities § (see
above) |
Improve marketing facilities; Improve
collection by introducing more trucks with cold storage facilities Consult leaders of the FCs Federation; Jaffna
Chamber of Commerce and marketing agencies in Colombo |
|
Lack of processing facilities |
Develop processing facilities; Revive export
of high value seafood, Assist FCs Federation |
|
Lack of efficient transport facilities |
Related to above |
|
Lack of landing sites |
Remove/reduce restrictions on mobility ( time
and distance); Facilitate sharing of existing landing sites; Assist
construction of new sites in environmentally safer areas |
|
LTTE’s taxes |
Remove taxation of small fishermen; Provide
loan facilities to fishermen and local traders through TRO etc. |
|
Poaching by Indian and other foreign
fishermen/ big companies |
Take immediate action; Dispel widespread
perception in the North that SL Navy is colluding with the poachers
(especially the Indian) against local fishermen and against national interest |
|
Displaced fisher families living in welfare
centres for many years without alternative livelihoods |
Address this as an urgent problem; Assist
them to find alternative livelihood. |
It should
be evident from the Table that much can be done within the existing security
constraints. What is needed is a special livelihood construction package for
the fishing communities of the North in the current and interim phases. Such a
package should be designed with due consideration to the peculiarities of the
security situations in different parts of the peninsula and the needs of the
fishermen to practice lagoon and sea fishing. The authorities will do well not
to forget that the environment and people’s livelihoods are inseparable and the
former cannot be protected as long as the latter is not seriously addressed.
___________________________________________________________________________
N. Shanmugaratnam is a Professor of Development
Studies at the Center for International Environment and Development Studies,
Agricultural University of Norway. He is currently engaged in studies of the
political economy of development of war-torn areas in Sri Lanka and Sudan.