The decision by the Ernakulam district administration to allow fishing boats from other States to use harbours in the district amid strict curbs has come as a great relief for fishing operators in major harbours like Thoppumpady.
The fishing harbour, which has been seriously affected by the ban on operations by other-State fishers, would now be able to operate at full capacity, said M. Majeed of the Fisheries Harbour Coordination Committee on Monday.
The decision by the district authorities brings to an end the confusion created by the ban. The ban had prevented long and tuna liners from using the Thoppumpady harbour, the biggest harbour in Kerala, over the past one month. Mr. Majeed said that there were around 650 longliners and gillnet boats that were the mainstay of the harbour.
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He also said that about 5,000 people worked at the harbour and the harbour was the nerve centre of activities for supply of raw materials for processing units in Edakochi and Alappuzha’s northern towns like Eramalloor and Aroor.
The arrival of a fleet of longliners and gillnet boats early in October had triggered a stand-off between purse seine boat operators, who refused to allow their catch to be unloaded and auctioned off at the harbour. In protest, harbour workers had said that they would not work for purse seine boat operators. The stand-off between the groups had brought the operations of the fishing harbour to a halt for more than a fortnight.
Mr. Majeed said that the government decision to impose a strict watch over the operations was welcome as the fishing industry as a whole wanted to cause no disruption in the COVID-19 containment activities.
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