The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, has picked holes in the B. Meenakumari committee report for review of deep-sea fishing policy and guidelines. It has pointed out that traditional fishermen have been hugely successful in harvesting deep-sea resources than foreign vessels operating under the Letter of Permit (LoP).
A large number of fishermen organisations have criticised the recommendations, which suggest deployment of 1,178 deep-sea fishing vessels in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for tapping deep-sea resources. The Kerala government and MPs from the State have demanded scraping the report following widespread fears that the entry of foreign vessels would deny fishermen their livelihood.
In its position statement, the CMFRI points out that the traditional fishermen of Thoothur “harvest approximately 45,000 tonnes annually from the deep-sea region, whereas the LOP vessels report an annual catch of only 1,900 tonnes. This clearly shows that the LOP scheme has been a failure.”
The committee “should have very clearly suggested scrapping of the LOP scheme and suggested new schemes for promoting Indian fishermen’s capability to fish in the deep-sea regions of the Indian EEZ and areas beyond natural jurisdiction,” the statement says.
Lack of clarity
Marine scientists feel that the report lacks clarity on buffer zones.
It is “not clear whether it is a no-take zone or a zone where selective fishing can be done. In this case, the area specified for buffer zone (200-500m depth) would be about 10 per cent of the total mainland Indian EEZ. This is a large area which would prove difficult to manage and administer. In order to conserve resources, a better option would have been to create Marine Protected Areas in Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems.”
