The State government, in an affidavit submitted to the High Court of Kerala, has prayed that the fishing ban proposed by the Union Agriculture Ministry be limited to 47 days starting June 15.
The affidavit submitted by P. Sheela, Under Secretary, Fisheries and Ports Development, stated that the State government had submitted a memorandum to the Union government against the recommendation of the Agriculture Ministry to impose a uniform 61-day-long fishing ban starting June 1.
The State submitted the affidavit on a petition filed by the Cochin Traditional Fishermen Association and others challenging the 61-day ban. The Kerala government approached the Union government against the ban after highlighting the socio-economic and law and order impact that the uniform ban would create, it said.
It was also pointed out that A. Gopalakrishnan, Director of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, who headed the committee which recommended the ban, had written to the Secretary of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Fisheries of the Union government, not to consider the report in its current form and allow the committee to rework and resubmit it.
According to the affidavit, the State had requested the Union government to modify the ban order so as to limit the ban period to 47 days in the Exclusive Economic Zone as done by the Union government for several years.
Government submits affidavit in HC on petition against ban
