Between The Values Of Fishing Communities And Modern Tourism
By K.P. Sasi
17 June, 2011
Countercurrents.org
The traditional fishing communities of Kerala, southern India, have culturally evolved differently from the rest of the mainstream of inland Kerala. Their livelihood has been entirely dependent on the sea. The relationship with the sea shaped their history, culture, social relations and economics. Irrespective of being part of different religions like Hinduism, Christianity and Islam; all the members of the fishing community worshipped the `Mother Sea’.
The notion of `State’ and `Private Property’ entered very late among the fisher folk in Kerala. Even today, in this era of globalization, you will find fishermen who do not think about monetary savings. The fisher folk, like adivasis believed in day to day needs to be met by day to day fish catch. The belief that the `Mother Sea’ is the protector and provider is still strong. If there is no catch for a few days, there must be some reason why the Mother Sea is angry, they feel. Some articulate that the loss of fish catch is due to over exploitation, mostly done by large vessels, trawlers and purse-seiners.
The relationship among the traditional fishermen during fish production is determined by the principle of sharing and not wages. The capitalist values of wage labour and capital are maintained only by a very small section of mechanized boats. Most of the owners of these boats are not from the fishing community. This explains a major difference in the values of production of the traditional fishing community and the remaining mainstream.
The traditional fisher folk of Kerala realize that environment has to be sustained for their own survival. Therefore, you can find a string of conservation values maintained and moulded through generations in the art of conservation of marine fish resources among the traditional fishing communities. For example, they do not normally use nets with small mesh holes which are used by the mechanized crafts which captures everything under the sea. While the mechanized crafts catch everything under the sea, the traditional fishing communities take only what they need. Unlike the modern technologies, there is no fishing technology among the traditional fisher folk to capture an entire fish shoal, since they do not believe in such massive destruction of the resources of the sea. Those who invest capital on the ocean’s resources can exploit labour and nature and move on to another field, while the lives of the traditional fishing communities are deeply connected to the sea for centuries. For them, fishing is not just an economic activity. It is also social, cultural, ecological and spiritual activity.
It is in this context that modern development with an entirely new set of values have stepped in. Nuclear plants, thermal power plants, mining and many other industries along with a major coastal tourism agenda have threatened the very existence of a large population of fisher people, who have normally lived with sustainable principles. Tourism and other industrial sectors are making an attempt to convert the coastal regions of Kerala as a resource for making quick profits. In this context, the contradiction of values between the perception of the coastal lands as a means for survival and the other perception of the coast as a means for profits step in. Modern tourism industry, unfortunately, is playing the lead in promoting a destructive model of `consumption of the coast’.
The Background of Tourism in Kerala
The root of modern colonialism in India can be traced back to Vasco De Gama. He was even referred as the one who `discovered’ India, by the European writers. Ironically, when Vasco de Gama landed in Calicut in north Kerala for the first time, he was surprised to see many Chinese, Arab, Persian and other traders. Calicut was already a small cosmopolitan town by that time. The Zamorine of Calicut who ruled the region, recognized all trade so long as he could get some meagure taxes. Calicut (Kozhikode) represented the gateway to colonialism of modern India.
What was interesting to note is the innocence of the native population with which they trusted outsiders and their capacity to be hospitable to the outsiders. With bitter experiences, this innocent welcoming character of the local population is turning into anger in modern times. It also takes a `utilitarian’ character some times for some members of the local population to use the economic superiority of the `outsider’ for immediate immediate use for survival . For the immediate economic benefit is the lesson some have learnt out of the invasion of modern development on the environment and traditional communities.
Transition to Modern Tourism in the Globalised World
The travel which was initiated for trade by the European world soon turned out to a conquest of the traditional lands. But even when the Britishers left, the coastal regions of Kerala remained more or less prestine. However, the modern invaders of development saw the coast as a major resource for profits. Though the modern tourism started much before than liberalisation, it entered an aggressive state of invasion of the coast in the post-globalised era in India. The coastal Kerala was seen as an ideal location for this experiment for aggression the `aggression of travel as a commodity’. The promoters of tourism branded Kerala as `God’s Own Country’. Thus they successfully represented the `nationality’ of God without His or Her permission through advertisements, with a single motive of quick profits for some people.
Due to such aggressive invasion of the coast by the post globalised tourism and other industries, seventy five per cent of the coast that belonged to the fishing communities is alieanated today. Since the values of the traditional fishing communities are not determined by stringent money values, it was easier for a combination of real estate business people and tourism industry to take over the coastal lands. The traditional fisher folk of Alleppey have already lost most of their coastal lands. The coast which was used by the fishing community for a number of social, cultural and economic activities stand alien to them. In some areas, if they have to enter the coast, they will have to get the permission from the tourism resort which captured the coast. Mararikkulam Beach Resort in Alleppey which invaded a large portion of the coastal land is a typical example for this.
The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, (CRZ) 1991 in India provided certain spaces for the fishing communities to express their community rights in the coastal lands. However, with the pressure from tourism and other industries, the government diluted the notification several times till a moment came to remove the restriction altogether. The fisher people’s unions all over the country came together with environmentalists and social activists and fought a strong battle against such a move. As a result the Government of India backed out from the effort to a great extent. But it is still felt that the sharks of the main lands are still waiting for the right opportunity.
There are hundreds of CRZ violations all over Kerala by the tourism industry. However, there is no proper mechanism to punish the guilty and provide rights to the fishing community. Private beaches by the resorts are flourishing. The fishing community is finding it more and more difficult to find space for drying their nets, keeping their boats and involve in fishing practices like `Kamba’, an effort by the community to pull the net from the coastal land itself. With the pressure from the expansion of tourism many fishermen have already moved to the interiors. Their livelihood has been affected deeply due to this invasion.
The Contradiction of Principles
The tourism promoters in this country feel that the `prestine’ beaches in this country have to be `exploited’ properly for the benefit of increase of GDP. If you do not use them properly, they are `wasted’. The difference of the world view of the modern developmentalists and the fishing community is this: The environment for the fishing community is a part of their existence and they realize that the destruction of the environment will lead to their own destruction. For this, the community would conserve the environment with spiritual values, cultural traditions and traditional wisdom which motivated them for thousand s of years. For the industry, the environment can be respected to the limit of the immediate monetary flows from it. As a result, wherever tourism has aggressively invaded on a large scale through centralized development, massive destruction of the environment has taken place. Large usage of water for tourism development has affected local communities in a major way.
The Ministry of tourism in Kerala looks at the rate of increase of GDP as the representation of growth and development. The rate of increase of GDP is 8 to 9 per cent today. The question `whose growth and at whose cost’ is never asked by the industry or the ministry. India has some of the richest people in the world and some of the poorest people in the world. The rich are becoming richer and richer and the poor are becoming poorer and poorer with this model of growth. The development of tourism has provided more money to the industry and displacement, loss of resources, loss of livelihood, destruction of environment, child abuse, exploitation of women and beyond all, the loss of self respect and dignity to the fishing community in Kerala. This industry which has a pretension of `poverty alleviation’ has already generated large scale poverty in the coastal lands today. The environment is being looted in the name of eco-tourism.
Apart from the structure and character of growth of tourism in Kerala, the fundamental problem is also that the frame work of its expansion does not look into the optimum levels of growth of an industry in one area without affecting the environment and community. It is like a glass which can hold water only to the size of the glass. If you pour more water into the glass, it will definitely spill. The problem today with tourism is that it has already started spilling. The only answer is to this problem is a total restructuring of the framework of minds of the planners and the industry with respect to local cultures, community rights, environmental concerns and a respect for future generations as well as other species in this planet.
K.P Sasi is an award winning film director and a political activist
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