With marine resources said to be on the brink of collapse, fishermen of trawl boats, who gather most of the catch in the district, were given training on “responsible” fishing here on Thursday.
Explaining the need for cautious fishing, B.A. Shyam Sundar, in-charge Dean of the College of Fisheries, said the country was approaching the limit on exploitation of the oceans.
“It was deemed that 4 million tonnes of catch annually is the maximum that can be taken from the seas around the country. We are already approaching this limit,” he said.
He was talking at the three-day workshop on ‘Awareness programme on responsible sea fishing’, that was inaugurated here at the Fisheries Engineering and Technology Wing, College of Fisheries. A total of 33 fishermen will be attending the workshop where legal intricacies regarding fishing, the need for conservation of marine animals, etc. “The nets have been getting smaller, while bigger boats can get more catch. But, we need to use technology for the conservation of fish too,” said Mr. Sundar.
Sounding the warning bell, B. Hanumantappa, a lecture at the college, said nearly 90 per cent of the fish caught are juveniles who had not gone through the mating season yet.
LoansWith boats being manufactured for more than Rs. 1 crore, there was pressure on the owner to clear the loans as fast as possible, said Nitin Kumar, president of the Trawlboat Fishermen Association.
“Even small fish are sold off to fish mills at low rates to increase profitability. If this continues, there will be no fish left for us to catch,” he said.
Furthermore, he said there needed to be a discussion between the government, experts and fishermen on the optimal duration of the fishing ban, which is currently set at nearly two months. “If the ban needs to be longer, then the fishermen have to agree. This way, at least the fish can be conserved,” he said.