The seizure of three fibre boats from other States recently by the Fisheries department off the Kochi coast, despite a 52-day trawling ban from June 9 midnight, has prompted the Matsya Mekhala Samrakshana Samiti to demand a ban on even small boats from other States fishing off the Kerala coast. Fisheries department sources said these boats had been seized recently with the department and the coastal police keeping a strict vigil on fishing activities during the days of trawling ban.
Even these small boats are exploiting the marine resources off the Kerala coast while the fishing sector in the State is in dire straits, said Sherry J. Thomas, general convener of the Samiti.
Department sources said that the catch in these boats were seized but boats from other States had no legal hurdles to operate off Kerala coast. These boats were asked to discontinue their operations to avoid a tense situation with the local fishers and to avoid a law and order problem.
‘No restrictions’
Mr. Thomas claimed that the fishing operations by boats from other States would affect the availability of fish for the local fishermen after the trawl ban period, which ends on July 31. He alleged that while Kerala government was strict on renewing licences of fishing boats that are more than 15 years old, boats from other States operated without these restrictions.
Jackson Pollayil of the Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation said the fishing boats from other States targeted resources like threadfin breams (kili meen) mostly, which was in demand in the market. He alleged that these boats from other states were using banned gears for fishing operations. The government should ban these practices to help local fishers, he added.
Mr. Thomas also alleged that while stringent norms were being applied to fishing boats, tourist boats were given permits with leniency. These restrictions gave an open field for boats from other States to exploit the resources off the Kerala coast, he added.
