- Kerala Swatantra Matsyathozhilali Federation
The Kerala Swatantra Matsyathozhilali Federation (KSMTF, or the Kerala Independent Fishworkers Federation) is a
trade union of small-scaleartisanal fisher s of the state ofKerala in SouthIndia . Small-scale fishworkers had been left out of the political mainstream in the politically chargedKerala province , as both the Left and the Right presupposed that they would only vote under the influence of theCatholic Church .The KSMTF was responsible for the political awakening of the small-scale fishing community in the early 1980s, when they had to struggle to preserve their livelihoods against the
commercial trawler s whose fleet had rapidly expanded to unsustainable levels. Led by theLiberation Theology -inspiredradical clergy , KSMTF took the fight to a political level, leading to far-reaching changes in governance (including a closed season for trawlers since 1988).External links
* [http://www.keralafishworkers.org/ KSMTF's own site]
* [http://www.keralafishworkers.org/ Alakal, the newsletter of KSMTF]
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