SIFFS originated through the intervention of NGOs in the artisanal fishing sector during 1970s and 1980s.
The origin of the network dates back to the seventies, when a diocesan rehabilitation project resettled fish workers from various localities in an uninhabited stretch of coast, later christened Marianad, about 20 km north of Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala, a State on the Southern peninsular India. One of the major problems that the fish workers faced in the new settlement was that of marketing their fish catches. The marketing system of the region at that time involved beach auctions. Controlled by merchants and middlemen, the system was inherently exploitative. Confronted with this, the fish workers with the assistance of a team of social workers decided to set up their own marketing system, and appointed their own auctioneer. Faced with a determined set of fish workers, the merchants who till then controlled the business eventually had to yield.The fish workers then took over a dormant co-operative society that had been registered in the village earlier and started operations formally. This was the first fish marketing society called Marianad Matsya Utpadaka Co-operative Society (MUCS). The society was a member-based, marketing-oriented, with membership open only to active fish workers who managed the society themselves. The three core activities of the MUCS are marketing of fish caught by members, providing credit for renewal of fishing equipment and promoting savings.
Controlled by merchants and middlemen, the system was inherently exploitative. Confronted with this, the fish workers with the assistance of a team of social workers decided to set up their own marketing system, and appointed their own auctioneer. Faced with a determined set of fish workers, the merchants who till then controlled the business eventually had to yield.The fish workers then took over a dormant co-operative society that had been registered in the village earlier and started operations formally. This was the first fish marketing society called Marianad Matsya Utpadaka Co-operative Society (MUCS). The society was a member-based, marketing-oriented, with membership open only to active fish workers who managed the society themselves. The three core activities of the MUCS are marketing of fish caught by members, providing credit for renewal of fishing equipment and promoting savings. Ripples and Repercussions