Discussions between purse-seine boat owners and representatives of Cochin Port Labour Union (CPLU) on Thursday ended inconclusively and the boat owners are slated to meet purse-seine boat workers' leaders on Friday. A boat owner A. M. Naushad said that operations at the Fishing Harbour was normal on Thursday.
He told The Hindu that discussions between boat owners and representatives of the CPLU on Thursday regarding payment of two per cent of the catch to the Union for its services ended without a firm resolution. Mr. Naushad said that operations at the Fishing Harbour was normal on Thursday and that there were no untoward incidents. Meanwhile, the issue of payment of money to CPLU for supply of water to purse-seine boats operating out of Cochin Fisheries Harbour (CFH) appears to have split the group of purse-seine boat owners.
Cochin Port Trust recently banned middlemen in the fisheries harbour for water supplies but it persists, dividing the group of purse-seine boat owners. While one group of boat owners is ready to make the payment of two per cent of the catch to CPLU, the others have said no.
