INITIATIVES TOWARDS CONSENSUS – THE ORISSA MARINE RESOURCES CONSERVATION CONSORTIUM

K. ALEYA

Coordinator, Orissa Marine Resources Conservation Consortium
Sana Aryapali, PO. Bada Aryapali, Via: Ganjam, Orissa, 761 020

E-mail- otfwu@hotmail.com

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Stakeholders in the turtle-fisheries scenario have been perceived as being either “pro-turtle” (anti-people) or “pro-people” (anti-turtle). Throughout the last decade there has been no conducive platform or space whereby the turtle-fisheries stakeholders could come together to discuss and address important problems arising out of turtle-fisheries interactions. It was expressed by some stakeholders such as the space whereby the turtle-fisheries stakeholders could come together to discuss and address important problems arising out of turtle-fisheries interactions. It was expressed by some stakeholders such as the traditional fishworkers group that there should be a common platform to discuss the turtle-fisheries issue. In December 2004, divergent groups comprising conservationists, biologists, fisherfolk NGOs and other interested persons met to form a voluntary and non-official sea turtle conservation consortium in Orissa, which would be beneficial to both conservation as well as livelihoods. The group has been named as the Orissa Marine Resources Conservation Consortium

The mission of the OMRCC was declared to be ‘To ensure sustainable use of marine living resources and livelihoods’.

The objectives of the consortium are:

• To reduce and prevent the over-exploitation of marine resources of Orissa.
• To protect the rights of the traditional fisherfolk in Orissa.
• To define the rights, resources, responsibility and roles of the various stakeholders in marine conservation in Orissa.
• To work towards sustainable livelihoods of traditional fisherfolk in Orissa.
• To promote and engage in the conservation of threatened marine life in Orissa.
• To conduct periodic assessments of the effectiveness of sea turtle conservation measures in Orissa.
• To conduct periodic assessments of the impacts of sea turtle conservation measures on the livelihoods of fisherfolk of Orissa.
• To promote and facilitate collaborative sea turtle and fishery resource conservation actions in Orissa.
• To evolve and promote a common sea turtle conservation strategy developed by various stakeholders represented in the OMRCC.
• To develop conflict management mechanisms to address fisheries and conservation related issues in Orissa.
• To advocate against polluting activities and environmentally unsustainable development practices in the coastal areas of Orissa.
• To define and promote indigenous, innovative technology for sustainable harvesting of marine resources.
• To develop eco-friendly indigenous markets for marine resources of Orissa.
• To liase with the state government, NGOs, central government, CEC, fishing communities and other policy level institutions and bodies to achieve the objectives of the OMRCC.

Members of the OMRCC

• Representatives from the OTFWU
• Operation Kachhapa and other local marine conservation NGOs
• Representatives from marine fishworkers’ cooperative societies
• Marine scientists, turtle biologists, fisheries experts
• Marine resource conservation and management experts

The OMRCC shall endeavour to include other groups such as:

• Trawler representatives from different areas
• Panchayat Raj Institutions related to coastal areas
• Fish traders (particularly those associated with traditional fishworkers)

Coordination

The OMRCC shall have one coordinator and two assistant coordinators. The term of these coordinators shall be three months. The present coordinator is K. Aleya from the Orissa Traditional Fish Worker’s Union. Assistant Coordinators are Biswajit Mohanty (Operation Kachhapa) and Aarthi Sridhar (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment). A group of facilitators have been identified to provide inputs and support on specific areas such as advocacy (Ashis Senapati), NGO and civil society groups (Dolli Dash), community groups (Buddhimanta Rao), participatory research (Basudev Tripathy) and natural resource management (Dr. N.P. Gantayat).

The mission, objectives, membership and operational aspects of the OMRCC were decided through a collective process but these are liable to change based on changing needs and requirements. Therefore, any changes in the functioning and the present principles and operation of the OMRCC would be possible with the collective consent of the members.