NPOA-SSF MARINE: FISHERS ALONG INDIA’S COASTS ARE HELPING TO WRITE THE NATIONAL PLAN THAT WILL SHAPE THEIR FUTURE
The Department of Fisheries, Government of India, is preparing a National Plan of Action for Securing Sustainable Marine Small-Scale Fisheries (NPOA-SSF Marine). The plan follows the #FAO Voluntary Guidelines for Securing #Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries and India’s National Policy on Marine Fisheries, 2017.
The work began with a national workshop in Puducherry on 31 August–1 September 2026. Since then, BOBP-IGO has been coordinating a series of community consultations with community and civil society organisations. Each meeting is held in the local language, and women and young people have their own discussions.
Dr P. Krishnan, Director, BOBP-IGO, said that the consultations are bringing the fishers’ own concerns, on rights, safety at sea, social security and the place of women, directly into the national plan.
These consultations are happening in all the coastal states and Union Territories. So far, nine consultations have been organised in five states: West Bengal (03), Odisha (01), Andhra Pradesh (02), Tamil Nadu (01), Kerala (01), and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (01). Fishers and fishing-allied workers of different practices and scales are participating in these events. Women working in various professions, from catching to net mending to drying, were present in large numbers during the consultations and actively participated in the discussions.
#BOBPIGO #npoassf #SmallScaleFisheries #CoastalCommunities #FisheriesGovernance #WomenInFisheries #SustainableFisheries #BlueEconomy
