Mechanised boat owners and workers have appealed to the Tamil Nadu Government to allow them for stay fishing to save the ailing industry.
According to mechanised boat owner Beno of Puthu Theru near St. Mary’s College here, there was a need for amending the norm, which was formulated in 1983 which mandates the returning of the mechanised boats to Thoothukudi Fishing Harbour by 9 p.m. after leaving for fishing at 5 a.m.
“When the wooden boats were small in the early eighties, the fishermen left Thoothukudi Fishing Harbour in the morning for fishing between Tiruchendur and Kanniyakumari and returned to the base in the night i.e. before 9 p.m. Now, fishing in this region is not profitable as marine wealth has dwindled drastically owing to a range of reasons. So, we have to build bigger boats with steel and high capacity engines in search of new fishing grounds to get better catch and to make the venture profitable. Hence, the government should allow us to go for at least one-night stay fishing by revisiting the decades-old norm similar to the permission given to Kanniyakumari boats,” says Mr. Beno, an engineering graduate.
The boat owners say that they have to spend not less than a crore rupee now for constructing a bigger steel boat with the length up to 110 feet to be hauled by high capacity engines with 450 Horse Power as the vessel has to reach the fishing grounds in deep seas and return to the base before 9 p.m. the same day.
“After leaving the fishing harbour at 5 a.m., we can reach the fishing grounds situated beyond 25 nautical miles around 7 a.m. We, spending around ₹1.25 lakh a day towards fuel, labourers’ wages, ice bars and provisions to cook food for the workers, can have a maximum of 4 or 5 harvests till 6 p.m. so that we can return to the base before 9 p.m. Those who fail to return to the harbour before 9 p.m. will be penalised and not allowed to go for fishing the next day. If we can get good catch worth more than ₹2 lakh during this short duration, the day’s venture will be profitable. If not, the owner suffers a loss and the problem worsens when the loss accumulates in the following days,” says Mr. Beno.
The owners say that boats from Kanniyakumari district and Kerala, which are allowed for multi-day stay fishing, carryout fishing operations in the night in the same areas where the Thoothukudi boats venture for fishing.
“The sea belongs to everyone of us… Since the Kanniyakumari and Kerala boats trawl this area throughout the night, there will be nothing left for us when we reach there in the morning and we return empty handed to suffer loss. So, we pray to the government to amend the age-old laws to ensure level-playing field for all mechanised boats by allowing us to go in for stay fishing,” another mechanised boat owner says.
The boat owners also allege that most of the boats from Kanniyakumari have double registrations in Tamil Nadu and also in Kerala for carrying out uninterrupted fishing even during the annual fishing period of 60 days. “While the annual ban is clamped in the east coast between April 15 and June 15, these boats will move to west coast (Kerala) to continue their fishing and return to Kanniyakumari when the ban comes into force in the west coast. It should also be checked,” Mr. Beno claimed.
A senior official attached to the Department of Fisheries said the country boat fishermen were against the proposal of stay fishing by Thoothukudi mechanised boat fishermen. “If the mechanised boat and the country boat fishermen can find an amicable solution through dialogue, we are ready to make this proposal to the government,” he said.
