Fishermen worried over Centre’s curbs

Kollam: Apprehensions over fishing ban casts a shadow over the fishing community even after the Union government issued a clarification.

The trawling ban by State government, started in 1988 on experimental basis for three years, will come into force from June 15.

“The proposal by the Centre to impose restrictions for 61 days is in effect a total ban. The foreign trawlers who sweep away fish from our sea are exempted from this too. Last week, we had observed that eight fishing ships came close to 12 nautical miles from our shore, while Indian fishermen are banned from entering territorial waters of other countries including Sri Lanka and Pakistan,” Boat Operators Association president M. S. James told DC.

The boat operators also raise apprehensions about the definition of ‘traditional fishermen’ mentioned by the Centre, who are exempted from the fishing ban.

Traditional fishermen during a few decades back use to row their small boats while today, almost all the boats possessed by them are equipped with motors to propel them.

This in effect bans all types of boats including those with the traditional fishermen from fishing during this period.

The Central ministry of agriculture has clarified that the coastal state governments have been advised to follow 61 days of uniform fishing ban within their territorial waters of 0 to 12 nautical miles.

In case where the states like Kerala prefer to implement a different fishing ban period in their territorial waters, they have been advised to reach 61 days ban period in their territorial waters gradually within a period of 05 years for the purpose of ensuring uniformity.