Children from the fishing village of Dhamra join the Greenpeace Ocean Defenders in painting banners with marine creatures, as part of the Sugayatri's Boat Yatra in Orissa.
On the 1st of February the Sugayatri set off from the Bandar fishing jetty on a ‘boat yatra’ to some of the main fishing centers north of Paradip, visiting four fishing harbours over two days. High-spirited discussions on turtle conservation and fish-workers’ livelihood, late night meetings lit up by truck headlights, and many a song-From victory on the west coast of India, to fast progress on the east coast, this has been a busy week for our activists! The turtle is on the move again, with the Greenpeace Sugayatri (crowned by its giant turtle) out in full force, keeping its date with the traditional fish-workers of Orissa. On the 1st of February the Sugayatri set off from the Bandar fishing jetty on a ‘boat yatra’ to some of the main fishing centers north of Paradip, visiting four fishing harbours over two days. High-spirited discussions on turtle conservation and fish-workers’ livelihood, late night meetings lit up by truck headlights, and many a song-and-dance helped us explain the reasons for our presence in the region, and boost the strength of the traditional fish-workers’ union.
Everywhere the Sugayatri docks, it attracts curious stares from the local fishermen, most of the interest centering around the larger than life turtle mounted on top of the cabin.
First stop, Talchua.
The fishing village of Talchua, on the Dhamra river, was the first stop of our boat yatra. Introducing us to the fishing community was K. Aleya, Secretary of the Orissa Traditional Fishworkers’ Union (OTFWU), a key Greenpeace ally, who had traveled on board the Sugayatri.
The Talchua harbour serves as a base for both traditional non-mechanised vessels as well as larger trawlers. An enthusiastic team of Greenpeace volunteers from Bhubaneshwar had arrived the previous day to spread the word of the boat’s arrival. Word had spread quickly and a crowd of over a hundred men, women and children had gathered outside the temple in the center of town.
Protect biodiversity, protect your profits.
Representatives of the OTFWU spoke to the crowd on the issues that concern them the most – their livelihood and the problems faced by the fishing community. We drew them into discussions linking the health of the oceans, the turtles and the livelihood of the fishing community. It didn’t take long for the fish-workers to agree that all issues were inextricably linked and inter-dependent.
From Talchua, the yatra moved across the river to the Dhamra fishing harbour, a few kilometers upstream. Both Dhamra and Talchua are situated just north of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary, and local fishermen here spoke of how they are affected by restrictions imposed to protect the annual turtle congregations in Gahirmatha. We worked hard to convince them that the well-being of the turtles is not an independent issue, but is linked with their own livelihood and survival. This reinforced for us the validity of our demand that local communities be involved in the conservation of the Olive Ridley, a process that Greenpeace is trying hard to promote, and which began with our demarcation of the boundaries of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.
The oceans have no boundaries!
Dhamra has a larger trawling base and we were invited to address the local trawlers. Here too, our messages were enthusiastically received. But what struck us most was the fact that most of the local fisher-folk simply are not aware of the no-fishing zones! Most of them have no idea of how important these zones are in the conservation of the turtle, and indeed, how important the turtle itself is to the marine ecosystem in these parts! Greenpeace, and Harekrishna Debnath, Chairperson of the National Fishworkers’ Forum and Mangraj Panda of the United Artists Association, coordinator of the Orissa Marine Resources Conservation Coalition (OMRCC) who joined us at this venue, worked hard over the next few hours to try to create awareness among these communities.
The fishermen were unanimous on one point: they were thrilled to have our buoys: the silver-and-white turtle-topped reflectors that we had deployed in January have become quite celebrated along this coast, and they have already warned many a fishing boat when it was about to enter a no-fishing zone.
Different segments, different concerns.
From Dhamra, it was off to the nearby fishing hamlet of Chandnipal, home to several hundred artisan fishing families, who came out in large numbers to welcome Greenpeace. The concerns here were slightly different. These families told us about how the mechanised trawlers were impacting their livelihood, and how their catch had decreased because they can’t compete with the trawl nets. Looks like the Olive Ridley is not the only victim of the rampant growth of the numbers of trawling boats in the waters off Orissa!
Extinction threatens fish-workers too.
Heading northwards to the village of Chudamani, about five hours away, we found a precious traditional fishing technique that is on the verge of extinction. The unique ribbed sail boats used by the fishing community on this part of the coast are facing tough competition from the larger motorized and mechanized boats. This area of the coast once had large, verdant mangrove patches, much of which has been converted to industrial-scale aquaculture ponds. The irony of enacting legislation to protect one part of the sea, while simultaneously permitting and encouraging such large scale ecosystem destruction was not lost on the villagers.
The end of the boat yatra saw the crew and the activists of Greenpeace return to the base camp: a tired, but wiser lot. There were many important lessons that we have learnt from the boat yatra, and most of all, it has reinforced our conviction to involve the local communities in the conservation process. It's not an easy job, but we’ll be there to see it through. That’s what makes us Greenpeace.
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