The Marine Enforcement Squad has stepped up patrolling to check illegal fishing by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka boats in Kerala’s territorial waters. Fisheries officials said fishing by these boats without proper permit had been causing loss of income to the native fishermen and to the Kerala Fisheries Welfare Fund Board that issued special permit to such boats after collecting a fee of Rs. 10,000.
Fishing boats from other States are allowed to operate only after securing the mandatory fishing permit from the Kerala Fisheries Department. The permit, valid for only six months, needs to be renewed for continued operations. As the amount for securing the permit is now Rs.10,000, the boat owners are reluctant to get it.
“Though the illegal boats are fewer off the Kozhikode coast, their number is high off the Kannur coast. Strict instructions have been given to the marine enforcement wing to track the violators and seize the boats,” said Mariam Haseena, Deputy Director of Fisheries Department in Kozhikode. She also confirmed that the enforcement squad, which has eight personnel, would soon get a Circle Inspector on deputation basis with other two policemen.
Unregistered boats
She said the Fisheries Department’s sea-patrolling unit had even come across incidents in which the fishing boats were found operating without valid registration. “We seized three such boats from Beypore on Tuesday. The fishermen in the boats were even unaware of the registration formalities,” she said.
As per the regulations, all the fishing boats should comply with the registration formalities and instructions on colour coding. Officials said the boats seized for violation of such guidelines would be released only after the remittance of fine and the completion of the pending registration formalities. The primary registration can be completed from any State, but, it would be convenient for the fishermen to approach the local authorities concerned for the purpose, they pointed out.
Earlier, the department had initiated stringent action against a few non-Kerala boats engaged in trash fish hunt. Several boats, including those operated by a few local fishermen, had been impounded by the enforcement squad during the drive. Fisheries Department officials said the drive dealt a heavy blow to some of the non-Kerala industrial fertiliser companies that depended on the illegally hunted stock of trash fish from Kerala’s coast.
