About Us

A Background to The Small-Scale Fishery of Kollam Corporation

Fishermen Welfare Society (FWS) was registered in 1983, and aimed to organize artisanal fishermen to benefit them financially and socially. The target area is six fishing villages in a 7 kms shoreline north and south of Kollam port. FWS focused more on preventing exploitation by middlemen to ensure a fair price for their catch by running open auctions; engaging with the major players including the government and fishermen cooperatives; and providing financial and other social development support services. Over the years, the organization has been known for its methods in ensuring fair prices for the catch. Its membership as on date is on the decline and fare poorly when compared to its competitor Matsyafed, the government organised cooperatives.

As a district-level organization, FWS is a member of South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS), a regional-level federation. The six village-level organizations called fish marketing centers (FMC), enroll fishermen as their members. The President and Secretary of the FMCs constitute most of the Executive Committee of the FWS. It is not clearly known that whether they are formal registered societies or branches of FWS. However, it appears from the discussions that, the FMCs exert very high influence in day-to-day operations related to the fishermen. The linkages between the FWS and FMCs, and decision-making processes related to financial functions such as loan distribution, recovery, and auction recoveries need to be understood to know their influence on day-to-day management of all functions. The Kollam Small Scale Marine fishery has three subsets: gillnet + hook/line, trawl and ring seine/mini purseine. The first subset is by and large confined to the Kollam Corporation wards of Pallithottam, Port Kollam, Jonakapuram, Moothakara, Vaddy and Thangassery. There is a negligible splattering of fishing villages north of Thirumullavaram and south of Sakthikulangara.

This 7 kms beachfront has about 6000 active fishworkers operating with about 1250 fishing units (one plywood boats and two engines per unit). The value of the annual fish landing is 120+corores, though pot Covid, the catch has dropped to about 100 crores. All the fishworkers are members either of Matsyafed or of Fishermen Welfare Society and have considerable exposure to participation inn in member owned and managed producer organizations. The right to the first sale of fish is well established and everyone auctions their fish only through the auctioneers appointed by their primary units and availing the auction halls and connected infrastructure provided by the fishing harbour.

Organizational Profile of Fishermen Welfare Society

Fishermen Welfare Society (FWS) is a 37-year-old small-scale fishersorganisation based in Kollam Coast, member based, owned, managed, and controlled by the traditional fishers. It is registered under the charitable societies’ registration act (Q519/83). At the ground level, FWS consists of seven primary societies – branches – viz., Fish Marketing Centres (FMCs) at 6 fishing villages, all within a radius of 10 kms from the head office, where all member based financial and non-financial transactions are managed and governed and on a daily basis.

FWS is located at Moothakkara, Kollam. FWS is vested with the responsibility for financial, administrative and policy level oversight, coordination, policy making, legal compliances with the registrar of societies, Income tax authorities, public provident fund/labour department, courts, Foreign Contributions Regulators, interfaces with the state/district authorities, member families, the larger fishing community, religious, secular, and political organizations working with the fishing communities, and the civil society.

FWS is in turn an affiliated with its third-tier apex body, the South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS) located at Thiruvananthapuram. The members of FWS are spread across the fishing villages at Vaddy, Moothakkara, Jonakappuram, Port Kollam, Pallithottam, Kaikkara at Pallithottam and Eravipuram.

Emergence of FWS

FWS emerged as a specific response to the needs of fishermen to collectively take control of their unpredictable and rapidly changing environment in the early eighties.  FWS is a leading non-governmental member based cooperative organisation working with the artisanal fishers of Kollam Coast. It is the district level body of grass root level primary societies (Fish Marketing Centres-FMCs) in the fishing villages of Kollam Coast linked to the Kollam Harbour.

Though functioning on cooperative lines, it is registered under the Travancore, Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Act of 1955.Registered in 1983, FWS had completed 37 years of relentless and dedicated service to the small-scale fishing communities

The role of primary village level society (Fish Marketing Centre-FMC)

  • Control over the first point fish sales at the Fish Landing Centres
  • Just and Fare weighing/Auction system and timely payments to the fishers
  • Payments through village level offices (FMCs)
  • At source deductions from the daily fish landing catches towards Savings, Bank Loan Repayments, Society Loan Repayments, salesman commission, office contribution, social security, and welfare contributions
  • Democratically managed committees and General Bodies
  • Apolitical free and fair elections, every three-year period

The Role of FWS

  • Supervision and monitoring of the FMCs financial management and credit portfolio
  • Formation and management of new primary societies
  • Creation and sustenance of Credit and Marketing Linkages
  • Assisting the Apex Organisation SIFFS in the supply of fish production inputs and service outlets (Distribution and servicing of Out Board Motors and Fibre Glass Boats/Gear)
  • Engaging in Welfare, Relief and Social Security Activities
  • FWS is self-reliant on the income generated from service charges and member contributions
  • Engaging in programmes of Advocacy in favour of artisanal fishers on various livelihood and rights-based matters
  • Create and continue close links with other fishermen organisations, Governmental departments, civic bodies, and scientific organisations
  • Generate Alternate Employment schemes for the youth with the assistance from South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS) to reduce pressure on the crew labour in fishing
  • Plan and implement programmes for resource conservation and management and evolve programmes for the conservation and protection of marine biodiversity
  • Generate programmes and schemes for the support of women livelihood
  • Operate and Manage Micro Finance and Micro Insurance schemes

The Guiding Principles

  • Marketing, financial services, technology control overfishing inputs etc. have to be integrated for effective intervention in the small-scale fisheries sector
  • High Impact and sustainability are best achieved through organisation owned and managed by the fishers themselves
  • Organise traditional small-scale fishers using passive and non-destructive fishing gear aiming at resource conservation and protection of marine biodiversity

The Small-Scale Marine Fishery of Kollam Corporation

The small-scale marine capture fishery of Kollam Corporation is spread across the coastal wards of Pallithottam, Port Kollam, Jonakapuram, Moothakara, Vaddy, and Thankasserry, along a 7+ kilometers crescent-shaped beach front, nestled between the Kollam Beach on the south, the Thankasserry Light House on the north, and the Thankasserry Fishing Harbour at the center.

The fishery economy is powered by 250+ fishing units. A typical fishing unit consists of a 36-footer marine plywood/fiberglass canoe, 4 sets of varying thread thickness/mesh-sized gill nets, a stock of hook and line and two petrol/kerosine fueled 16 HP outboard engines. A unit is manned by a crew of about 6 men including the owner-worker. Each of the contracted crew has to be advanced a notionally refundable Rs. 50000+. The average investment on a fishing unit is Rs. 4+ lakhs and the annual working capital requirement including fuel Rs. 2+ lakhs. The average annual fishing trips of each active fishing unit is 200+.

The fishing technology adopted is essentially gill netting and hook and line – the most labor-intensive, eco-friendly, and sustainable approach to harvesting juveniles and fully grown species mix tropical renewable resource base. As opposed to the more aggressive and capital-intensive bottom trawling and purse-seining – with huge negative externalities on the resource base and its ecosystem. Besides, Kollam fishery is largely oriented towards domestic pelagic and demersal fish production and consumption, supplying fresh and uncontaminated animal proteins to the sea fish-loving population of Kollam Corporation and its hinterlands – through a larger number of short trade loops and retail outlets operated by small entrepreneurs.

This largely self-financed small entrepreneurs led fishery economy – with many desirable features and spin-offs in the areas of sustainability, concerns with protecting eco-bio systems employment creation, economic incomes for women, the equitable spread of earnings, quality response to the food consumption needs of the lower income segments of the population – has a capital investment of Rs. 10+ crores and an annual recurring cost Rs.4+ crores. It provides direct employment to 6000+ men and indirect employment to another 5000+ women and men in its backward and forward linkages, such as fish procurement, processing, marketing, manufacture, maintenance and repairs and maintenance of craft and gear, retailing of fuel, etc.

The annual return on investment – auction value of fish landings – is estimated at INR 60+ crores, and at a median of Rs. 20+ lakhs per fishing unit, with outliers ranging from Rs. 30+ lakhs to Rs. 4+ lakhs. The average annual take-home income per household is estimated at Rs. 1+ lakhs. This annual household could be as high as Rs. 5+ lakhs for skilled and disciplined fishing unit owners.

The small-scale fishery economy is a fairly equitable and sustainable employment and livelihood provider with minimal burdens on state resources and negligible externalities on life-supporting eco-bio systems and the life chances of future generations.