Several trawl boat and country boat operators here on Saturday staged a protest against the order of the High Court of Karnataka allowing purse seine boat operators to do fishing during the night using lights beyond 12 nautical miles from the shore.
The protest was in front of the office of the Deputy Director of Fisheries at the Old Port.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Rajesh Putran, secretary of the Mangaluru Trawl Boat Fishermen Association, said an official memorandum was issued by the State government on August 29, 2016 setting forth conditions for using surface lights on boats. In 2017, this memorandum was withdrawn and a ban was imposed on fishing using lights and bull trawling. All boat operators have been following this order.
Following a petition by Akhila Karnataka Purse Seine Fishermen Sangha, Mr. Putran said the High Court had now allowed purse seine boat operators to use surface lights and do fishing using lights. “It’s strange that such an order has been issued when there is ban on fishing using lights. The High Court has been kept in the dark on the order banning the same,” he alleged.
Suleman, a trawl boat operator, said the ban on fishing using lights and bull trawling had helped country boat operators as they were getting good catch.
Deputy Director of Fisheries Chikkaveera Naik, who heard the protesters, said the department was now only following the orders of the High Court. Mr. Naik said he would convey to his higher-ups the opinion expressed by the trawl boat operators.
High Court judge Alok Aradhe on January 21, 2019 allowed purse seine boat operators to use surface lights on their boats only if they submit an undertaking that they will use it only beyond 12 nautical miles.
The judge also directed such boat operators to comply with conditions mentioned in the official memorandum dated August 29, 2016.
