Vishakapatnam: The minister for fisheries and animal husbandry Dr Seedari Appalaraju resolved the months’ long ring net issue after meeting the elders of the rival fishing villages in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
The minister suggested the Jalari Endada fishermen having ring nets to fish beyond Rushikonda to Bheemili so that the traditional fishermen of Peda Jalaripeta would not be deprived of their catch.
But the minister also hinted that the ring nets would be completely banned in near future to prevent disputes, he told the villagers.
“We held a meeting with elders representing 14 fishing villages and it was decided not to issue new permits to use ring nets,’’ the minister told reporters after the meeting.
He said a coordination committee would be formed with the participation of elders from all the villages and it would be headed by joint-collector K. Viswanath
Any issues would have to be referred to this coordination committee for redressal instead of raising issues among them. The first meeting of the committee would be held on Friday.
The meeting also set boundaries to the ring net owners for some time, the minister said.
Fishermen assured the minister that they would cooperate with the police in maintaining law and order in the coastal villages.
The leaders of the fishermen sighed with relief after the minister announced the lifting of a ban on fishing which was imposed last week due to the clashes.
“We were losing a minimum of around Rs 5 lakh per day,’’ said Teddy Shankar, who represents the committee opposing use of ring nets.
