The All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators’ Association has appealed to the State government to give them relief from paying this year’s licence fee in view of the disruption in operation caused largely by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter sent to Chief Minister Pinarayai Vijayan, the general secretary of the association, Joseph Xavier Kalapurakkal, said that the fishing sector was facing a big crisis-like situation. There is a shortage of catch largely because of the changes in climatic conditions. Besides, he said, the COVID-19 restrictions had resulted in the loss of fishing days during the year, he said.
At the same time, the restrictions imposed on the deployment of fishers from Tamil Nadu had affected deep sea fishing in a big way.
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The number of fishing days had been curtailed because of the bad weather conditions. Though the ban on large boat operations on account of the trawling ban was to end on August 1, the operations were restricted by the bad weather warnings.
While fishing operations resumed in the second week of August this year, large fishing boats were within the weather warning system, which did not allow them to venture out, he said.
The association said that the licence fees for the fishing boats in Kerala ranged between ₹2,000 and ₹25,000 and that around two lakh people worked in the sector, making it one of the biggest job opportunities in the State.
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