Report of the national workshop on small-scale fisheries, Cyclone Ockhi and disaster risk management 29 to 30 May, 2018, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

Abstract

National Workshop on Small-scale Fisheries, Cyclone Ockhi and Disaster Risk Management was held on 28 to 29 May, 2018 at Thiruvananthapuram. The workshop was organised by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) Trust with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The workshop was attended by a large number of distinguished participants, including fishworker organisations, government officials, academics, non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations and the disaster affected community. Representatives from FAO and the Bay of Bengal Programme Inter-Governmental Organisation (BOBP-IGO) also attended the programme. On 29 November 2017, a deep depression, detected in the Indian Ocean southwest of Sri Lanka, rapidly intensified into a cyclonic storm off the coast of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep Islands. Cyclone Ockhi, as it was named, took the life of a number of fishers, injured many and destroyed fishing vessels and gear.