Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Trawlers seized, crew detained at Valiathura

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tension prevailed on the Valiathura coast in the city for hours on Sunday evening after local fishermen detained five motorboats that strayed into the coastal waters.

The fishermen blocked the motorboats at sea accusing them of poaching and detained the crew after bringing them ashore.

A police posse rushed to the spot and prevented the situation from spinning out of control.

Negotiations to free the detainees began under the auspices of the Vicar of the Valiathura church. The tension dissipated after the detainees agreed to skirt the reefs during their trawling operations. They were freed and allowed to return to their boats.

Local fishermen said the trawlers were known to frequent the waters off the coast during the season when squid was available in plenty and the catch yielded a better profit.

The natural and artificial reefs in the area harbour a rich shoal of several commercially important species, including squid.

They allege that trawling destroys the reefs which provide a natural habitat for fish. This, they say, deprive the fish of spawning grounds, affecting the catch in the coming months.

They maintain that the illegal trawling in the waters off the Thiruvananthapuram coast is a planned operation.

“The trawler operators know that they will meet little resistance from the traditional fishermen on Sunday morning as most of them are Christians who attend morning mass at church,” said a fisherman. The coastal waters have witnessed skirmishes between the traditional fishermen and the trawler operators several times in the past.

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