Stephen S., a fisherman from Pallithottam, Kollam, remembers a time not so long ago when he was extremely diffident about switching to a smartphone. “I always believed that it would be too complicated for me,” says the 67-year-old.
All that changed in early July this year. Stephen was one of the 13 men and women chosen from Kerala for an online training session organised by the National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF) for making fishing communities aware of the formidable power of online networking tools. “I borrowed my daughter’s mobile phone for attending the session. I found it very useful,” says Stephen.
Lockdowns and containment zones prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic have rendered physical meetings and conventional modes of protest next to impossible. Going online is perhaps the only way for a community marginalised in many ways to make itself seen and heard, feels the NFF. The sessions are meant to encourage fishing communities in maritime States and Union Territories to see online networking as a potent tool for empowerment and communication, NFF national general secretary T. Peter said.
Till Wednesday, the NFF campaign has covered fisher groups in Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry. The participants are given tips on organising and participating in videoconferences, webinars, and capturing and uploading video footage. In each State, the NFF is assisted by the State-level fishworkers’ organisations. The sessions are handled by Media Collective.
“What led us to organise such a campaign was the unilateral manner in which the Central government approved the draft Fisheries Policy. Given the COVID-19 situation, you cannot simply call together a meeting or travel extensively to organise debates and protests on such issues. Furthermore, the fishing community is hamstrung by weaker education levels, although the situation is changing. Effective use of online tools is a way for far-flung fishing communities to come together and present their apprehensions at appropriate forums,” Mr. Peter said.
The World Forum of Fisher Peoples, a global platform for small-scale fisher people, has been holding webinars on a wide range of issues that impact fishing communities worldwide such as COVID-19 and ‘ocean grabbing’, he said.
This monsoon in Kerala, a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases and adverse weather conditions hampering fishing operations had dealt twin blows to the fishing community. Containment zones on the coast had restricted movement and interaction among people. “In such scenarios, it is extremely important that you are able to organise and attend online meetings. I did not know a thing about them. The sessions have proven very useful,” Mable Raymond, district president of the Theeradesa Mahila Vedi, said.
“We have to embrace these new technologies. The COVID-19 pandemic has created certain social situations that are likely to persist for some time to come,” said Valerian Isaac, a fisherman from Anchuthengu in Thiruvananthapuram who attended a session.
Soon, similar sessions will be organised for fisher groups in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Karnataka, and Gujarat, the NFF said.
