The safety and health of fishers is paramount among small-scale fisheries issues that call for urgent action. Governments, fisher associations and the community must address the issues head on. Recommendations from IFISH 3 and from a post-tsunami workshop held recently at Mahabalipuram, India, must be taken up in right earnest..
Safety and health in the fisher community. The subject threatens to become an embarrassment. Despite strong vocal support and a show of hand sat conferences, there seems little to show by way of action. Fishers themselves, who once regarded health and safety as occupational hazards, now look upon it with fear and awe. The sea is no more a benign mother and provider: she bristles with menace and peril.12/26 changed many things – most of all, perhaps, the cozy equation between fishers and the sea..read more