Mechanised and traditional sector fishermen from the southern parts of the State defied the Union government’s 61-day fishing ban which came into force on Monday by sailing beyond 12 nautical miles. They also returned with catch to their respective landing sites where auction took place as usual.
The fishermen said that in some pockets off the Alappuzha coast, they were chased away by a fleet of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) when they were seen fishing beyond the 12 nautical miles limit. They said that they were gripped by confusion since the State government was sticking to the traditional trawling ban which comes into effect only at midnight on June 14.
Peter Mathias, secretary of the Kollam District Fishing Boat Operators Association, said more than 200 mechanised fishing boats from the Neendakara-Shakthikulangara twin fishing harbours here went fishing on Sunday. After midnight, when the boats started fishing at a distance of 22 nautical miles, an ICG vessel reached there and surveyed the situation for about 30 minutes.
But on Monday morning, when the boats from both sectors went beyond 12 nautical miles off Alappuzha, a fleet of the ICG comprising two speed boats and ship warned the fishermen to return to the 12-nautical mile limit. When the fishermen failed to heed the warning, the ICG fleet started chasing the boats, Mr. Mathias said.
This forced many of the boats to return and for the mechanised sector, fishing on Monday proved to be a big loss. Only small quantities of threadfin bream (kilimeen), squid, and shrimps could be harvested. The mechanised sector would defy the ban on Tuesday too, Mr. Mathias said.
Fishermen from the traditional sector said the catch was poor since they were chased away by the ICG fleet while trying to reach fishing grounds beyond 12 nautical miles. T. Peter, leader of the National Fish Workers Forum, said that during this part of the year, the fishing grounds for traditional fishermen were well beyond 40 nautical miles. Chasing the fishermen away from those grounds was injustice because their right to work and livelihood was being denied. The ban had been imposed without understanding the social implications. “Through the ban, the Union government is preparing the ground to hand over our fishing grounds to foreign trawlers,” he alleged. The traditional sector would attempts to defy the ban on Tuesday too, he said.
