A Grassroots Relief Effort From The Heart
by Jeff Della Penna

When the tsunami disaster hit, many people within the New England fishing community’s immediate and extended family reached out to help. Some opened up their checkbooks. Others sought corporate support. And some, like Fishermen’s Voice contributor, Niaz Dorry, of Gloucester, opened up their hearts and put their brains to work.

“I don’t really have the money to write a check, so I did what I do best, I tried to organize a movement,” Dorry said.

Dorry would adamantly insist that she’s not doing anything for the victims of the tsunami, especially the indigenous fishermen, that anyone else wouldn’t do. But, there are few who would or could do what she, and her friends, have accomplished.

In 1998, Niaz Dorry was one of the six ocean activists from around the world honored by Time Magazine as a “Hero for the Planet.”

Immediately following the disaster, she started an impassioned email campaign urging everyone she knew, and some she didn’t, to contribute funds toward the relief efforts. Working with a long list of friends and associates, including Craig Pendleton of Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, Dorry helped to organize an impressive network of support for the fishermen, who had lost not only their catches, but their boats and homes — and in many cases, their families — in that one incredible wave of destruction.

“This thing has created a bit of a tsunami in my own world!” Dorry admitted. “I’ve met Father Kocherry, the Coordinator of the World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP), so I felt I had an opportunity to give to someone who I knew the face of. And, from my vantage point, the only thing that separated a fisherman in Maine and one in Sri Lanka was location. Helping fishing communities on the other side of the world recover from this, would be like helping out a distant cousin.”

“The WFFP is an international organization, headquartered in India, that represents millions of small-scale, artisanal and indigenous fishing communities,” Dorry explained. “They’re estimating that more than 22,000 boats were lost in the tsunami. Plus, they’ve lost nets, engines, equipment, homes, livestock, property, catch and other losses that have yet to be tallied.”

To specifically direct the relief funds toward the fishing communities, Pendleton organized an account through St. Joseph’s Credit Union in Biddeford, Maine. St. Joseph’s volunteered to cover all wiring charges. When enough money was collected, it would be wired to the Sri Lanka Center for Development Facilitation and the WFFP for the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NFSM).

With that infrastructure in place, Dorry, Pendleton and their growing number of volunteers started contacting old friends and new ones, asking them to contribute. Dorry sent emails that asked for two things: first for monetary support, and second, that her emails be passed on.

Within a week, Dorry and Pendleton’s efforts had raised more than $12,000. They also began to hear from fishing groups from all over the place who wanted to help.

“We’ve heard from fishing community organizations in the U.S. and around the globe,” Dorry said, “businesses, nonprofit groups, loose networks, and individuals all telling us they are glad to have a grassroots fund to give to as, like many of us, they don’t have much to give, so want it to go directly to those affected and not be eaten up by administrative costs.”

On January 20, Dorry announced that nearly $40,000 has been wired to Sri Lanka, so far. But that’s not all. In addition to many individual donations still pouring in, Dorry told the story of the third and fourth graders at Burns School in Saco, Maine, who raised $10,154. Half the money was collected through a coin drive and the other half through a matching donation from Saco & Biddeford Savings Bank. The students at Mount View School, in Sullivan, Maine, donated $5,000, intended for their class trip to Boston, to help commercial fishermen repair their boats and replace lost equipment. There was even the $150 donated by the winning band (Ninja Vanish) at the 6th Annual Melrose (MA) High School Battle of the Bands. “We want to thank so many people for helping,” Dorry said.

Niaz sees now that the real work for her is just beginning. “Despite all the immediate help, it’s becoming increasingly clear that rebuilding the small-scale fishing communities will be a complex undertaking,” Dorry said. “Lives take a long time to put back together after such disasters.” She said she’s now decided to work on ways to help with the long-term needs of these communities.

When she’s not writing for the Fishermen’s Voice, Dorry is director of Gloucester, Mass.-based Clean Catch, a group working with fishing community groups to research non-fishing impacts on the marine environment. Dorry is a veteran activist who has worked for years with small-scale, traditional, and indigenous fishing communities in the U.S. and from around the globe to advance the rights and ecological benefits of the small-scale fishing communities as a means of protecting global marine biodiversity. In 1998, Dorry was one of the six ocean activists from around the world honored by Time Magazine as a “Hero for the Planet.”

To find out how you can help with these efforts, Niaz Dorry can be reached via email at niazdorry@earthlink.net or visit Clean Catch’s website www.cleancatch.org.