[Radix] Why do Bangladesh's fishermen dice with death?

[L.Bosher]

Dear JC,

Thanks for the information. 

I found pretty much the same situation in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh during my research 2001-2004. Effectively, it was conditions of bonded labour that was forcing fishermen to make the most of the best fish catching conditions (low pressure). Rather than using radio alerts about impending cyclones as a warning, they saw the information as an opportunity to harvest a good catch; these decisions were made not through greed but were seen as a potential opportunity to help pay their debts (to the boat owners, moneylenders etc.). A spin off aspect of vulnerability I found was that many of the fishermen's wives also felt obliged to wait at home (typically low quality kutcha huts) to protect their homes, assets and their (in many cases informal) claims to the land that their house was built on, rather than evacuating to safer ground or a cyclone shelter. 

Best wishes,

Lee

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: JC Gaillard 
  To: radix at ecie.org 
  Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2007 7:30 AM
  Subject: [Radix] Why do Bangladesh's fishermen dice with death?


  Dear Radixers,

  Sorry for crossposting but I find the issues raised by the short AlertNet paper pasted below quite interesting, yet not new.

  Best wishes,

  JC

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  Why do Bangladesh's fishermen dice with death?
  16 Nov 2007 17:02:00 GMT

  Blogged by: Emma Batha

   Many of the people who died in Cyclone Sidr were fishermen. Ships and boats were called to shore days ago, so why did some stay out at sea? Part of the problem is that this time of year is potentially quite lucrative for fishermen. "When there's low pressure the fish come up (towards the surface) so it's a good time to catch fish but it's also the most dangerous time," says Wahida Bashar Ahmed, aid agency ActionAid's emergencies co-ordinator for Bangladesh. "We need to build up awareness among fishermen." But there is another reason why fishermen stay out. Many don't own their boats and owe money to the owners. "The boat owners send them to fish. It's a kind of bonded labour so we have to tackle the whole system," Ahmed says. "We need to have a different strategy for the fishermen." CARE's spokesman in Bangladesh, Jamil Ahmed, agreed that the relationship between boat owners and fishermen was a problem but said that poverty also meant some fishermen simply ignored weather warnings. 
  Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  -- 
  Jean-Christophe Gaillard, Ph.D.
  Maître de Conférences
  Laboratoire Territoires - UMR PACTE 5194 CNRS
  Institut de Géographie Alpine
  Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1
  14 bis, Avenue Marie Reynoard
  38100 Grenoble
  France

  Tel. (00-33)-(0)4-76-82-20-79
  Fax. (00-33)-(0)4-76-82-20-21
  Email. jean-christophe.gaillard at ujf-grenoble.fr

  Website: http://jc.gaillard.monsite.orange.fr/



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