Feminist Movements Rally Behind India’s Fisherwomen: ALIFA Declares National Solidarity as Coastal Rights Become Global Human-Rights Issue
As India marks the first International Fisherwomen’s Day, a powerful five-week global campaign puts the spotlight on gender, climate, and coastal justice
By Maritime News India : In a remarkable convergence of feminist, ecological, and coastal-rights movements, ALIFA – the All India Feminist Alliance of NAPM has issued a strong national statement of solidarity with fisherwomen across India and the world. The declaration aligns with a five-week international campaign led by the World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP)—endorsed nationally by the National Forum of Fishworkers (NFF)—celebrating fisherwomen’s struggles for rights, recognition, and representation.
This year’s campaign is historic: it marks the world’s first International Fisherwomen’s Day, commemorating the India Fisherwomen’s Assembly held on November 5, 2024, in Thiruvananthapuram, a watershed moment in coastal women’s movements.
Beyond “Invisible Labour”: Fisherwomen Assert Their Identity as Workers, Leaders, and Custodians of the Commons
ALIFA emphasised that fisherwomen are not mere extensions of male-dominated fisheries. Instead, they are:
- frontline workers in harvesting, drying, processing, vending
- defenders of traditional fishing rights
- protectors of coastal ecosystems
- knowledge-holders of sustainable marine practices
- leaders of grassroots ecological struggles
Yet, despite this vital role, state fisheries policies, marine conservation frameworks, harbour authorities, and even fishworker unions have historically marginalised fisherwomen.
ALIFA’s statement calls this marginalisation a “historic injustice at the intersection of caste, gender, labour exploitation, and environmental risk.”
Five Weeks of Global Solidarity: A Campaign Rooted in Decades of Resistance
The worldwide campaign (Nov 5–Dec 10) focuses on interconnected themes:
- Gender Rights & Freedom from Violence
- Asserting Fisher Identity
- Community & Customary Rights
- Protect Waters; Protect Life
- Fisher Rights as Human Rights
Each theme resonates deeply in India, where fisherwomen have been battling:
- coastal land acquisition for ports and tourism
- destructive aquaculture
- climate-driven erosion and cyclones
- exclusion from compensation schemes
- the impacts of overfishing and trawling
- the “Blue Economy” model that privileges corporate interests
An Expanding Maritime Sector — But Shrinking Space for Fisherwomen?
India’s ports are expanding at unprecedented speed under Maritime India Vision 2030 and Amrit Kaal maritime reforms. But fisherwomen say this growth model:
- Prioritises industrial ports over artisanal landing sites
- Converts coastal commons into private real-estate
- Encourages deep-sea mining, offshore energy zones and aquaculture
- Fails to consult women before approving projects
- Leaves fisher families uncompensated in post-disaster events
A fisherwoman from Tamil Nadu told Maritime News:
“We fight storms at sea, and storms on land. When ports expand, we disappear from the map. But the sea does not survive without us—and neither does the fishing economy.”
Charter of Demands: From Tokenism to True Representation
ALIFA endorsed the 11-point global charter prepared by the WFFP Women’s Assembly and NFF. The key demands include:
- Equal representation of fisherwomen in all decision-making bodies
- Legal recognition as workers and rights-holders
- Protection from forced coastal acquisition
- Access to social security, health care, maternity benefits
- First-sale rights, fair markets, access to credit
- A total ban on deep-sea mining and destructive aquaculture
- Community-led conservation and control over commons
These demands are not symbolic. They form the backbone of a gender-just coastal governance model—one that India has yet to adopt.
Global Trend: Countries Empowering Coastal Women—Will India Follow?
Several nations are moving toward women-led fisheries policy:
- Chile mandates women’s representation in fishery councils
- Canada includes women in co-management of marine protected areas
- Norway has gender-based quotas in coastal governance
- Indonesia has begun mapping women’s contributions to fisheries GDP
India’s maritime transformation will be incomplete, ALIFA warns, unless fisherwomen are recognised as strategic economic actors, not welfare beneficiaries.
Why This Struggle Matters to the Global Maritime Sector
Fisherwomen’s rights are now a key issue in international discussions on:
- food sovereignty
- climate resilience
- marine biodiversity
- sustainable ocean economies
- labour rights in coastal supply chains
If India hopes to emerge as a global maritime power with green ports, blue-economy infrastructure, and export-led coastal clusters—it must ensure its most traditional ocean custodians are not erased in the process.
A Direct Challenge to the Corporate “Blue Economy” Agenda
ALIFA sharply criticised:
- coastal privatisation
- industrial aquaculture
- mega-port expansion
- militarisation of coasts
- deep-sea mining projects
These development models, the group argues, treat oceans as extractive zones rather than living ecosystems protected by generations of knowledge carried by fisherwomen.
“The Ocean Belongs First to Its People”: ALIFA’s Closing Message
In its concluding appeal, ALIFA’s statement reads:
“The oceans, rivers, and wetlands belong first to those who live with them. Fisherwomen safeguard waters, species and ecosystems with a care no corporation can replicate. They must be recognised as right-holders—not obstacles to development.”
The alliance pledges continued support to fisherwomen’s collectives, resistance movements, and global campaigns fighting ecological loss, labour injustice, and gendered violence along India’s coasts.
Final Takeaway: India’s Maritime Future Must Include Its Oldest Ocean Custodians
As India accelerates port expansion, offshore renewable projects, coastal expressways, SEZs and shipping hubs—the voices of fisherwomen are becoming a global test of whether the country’s economic rise can also be socially just, gender-just and ecologically sustainable.
Fisherwomen have survived centuries of storms, patriarchy, caste violence and climate change.
Now they stand at the centre of a global feminist environmental movement—one that demands dignity, rights, and a future where the ocean is not a commodity, but a commons.
