Prepare Agricultural Project - India
Prepare, a Chennai-based NGO, initiated this programme to inform small-time fisherfolk in Andhra Pradesh of the long-term ecological and economic consequences of collecting shrimp fry. Prepare attempted to strengthen local control over the powerful shrimp industry by organising the community into decision-making councils called Kappu Sanghams.
Communication Strategies
Education and awareness programmes helped the community understand that agricultural land was rendered useless due to salinisation. Kappu Sanghams conducted activist activities to lobby against the shrimp industry through public meetings, road blockades, and picketing, accompanied by vigorous campaigning.
Development Issues
Agriculture, Environment.
Key Points
Twenty years ago, middlemen and moneylenders carted away fish catches from the Andhra coast at extremely low prices, at times even by force. In spite of this exploitation, the people were satisfied, as they still had enough fish for sale and consumption. However, mechanised boats and trawlers gradually began fishing within their traditional limits, leading to depletion of prawn, fish and vegetation, posing a threat to their livelihoods and an even greater threat to the environment.
Deprived of their livelihoods, the desperate fisherfolk sold their land to the shrimp industry. Having stripped them of their livelihoods and land, the industry then employed them to collect shrimp fry (young or newly-hatched fish). The 1980 guidelines of the Andhra Pradesh government, which permitted only non-mechanised fishing craft to operate up to 10 kms from the shore, were never enforced.
In response to the 1994 arrest of a local activist writing against the shrimp industry, Prepare filed a petition seeking legal action. NGOs and activists from all maritime Indian states came together, forming the People's Alliance Against Shrimp Industry (PAASI), to coordinate a national movement against the shrimp industry and collect evidence to present to the Supreme Court. On May 9, 1995, the Supreme Court directed that no part of agricultural land be converted into commercial aquaculture farms in the coastal states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry. The district collectors were directed to allow the traditional fisherfolk free access to their villages and the sea.
However, the industry carried on, having convinced officials, politicians and corporates of its contribution to the rural economy.
Due in part to this programme's effort, on August 24, 1995, the Supreme Court passed an order that no construction was to be permitted within 500 metres from the sea - the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). Discharge of effluents from industries, land reclamation, and groundwater extraction were banned in the CRZ. This was a major victory for the fishing community.
Deprived of their livelihoods, the desperate fisherfolk sold their land to the shrimp industry. Having stripped them of their livelihoods and land, the industry then employed them to collect shrimp fry (young or newly-hatched fish). The 1980 guidelines of the Andhra Pradesh government, which permitted only non-mechanised fishing craft to operate up to 10 kms from the shore, were never enforced.
In response to the 1994 arrest of a local activist writing against the shrimp industry, Prepare filed a petition seeking legal action. NGOs and activists from all maritime Indian states came together, forming the People's Alliance Against Shrimp Industry (PAASI), to coordinate a national movement against the shrimp industry and collect evidence to present to the Supreme Court. On May 9, 1995, the Supreme Court directed that no part of agricultural land be converted into commercial aquaculture farms in the coastal states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry. The district collectors were directed to allow the traditional fisherfolk free access to their villages and the sea.
However, the industry carried on, having convinced officials, politicians and corporates of its contribution to the rural economy.
Due in part to this programme's effort, on August 24, 1995, the Supreme Court passed an order that no construction was to be permitted within 500 metres from the sea - the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). Discharge of effluents from industries, land reclamation, and groundwater extraction were banned in the CRZ. This was a major victory for the fishing community.
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