A team of officials from Fisheries Department inspected the mechanised fishing boats that were moored along the wharf at Thoothukudi fishing harbour on Monday.
During the 61-day annual fishing ban period, the mechanised boats had undergone maintenance works. Ahead of the resumption of fishing on June 15, physical inspection of the boats were carried out, sources told The Hindu . Normally, the 45-day fishing ban would commence on April 15 and conclude on May 29, but this year the ban period was extended by 15 days.
The officials checked whether the boats were equipped with all the facilities prescribed under the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1983.
The sources said in Thoothukudi the officials checked the length of the boats, their engine power and also verified their registration numbers. They also checked whether the boats maintained permitted colour code.
As per government norms, every registered boat should have a length of 20 metres and 150 horse power capacity had to be maintained in motor engine.
Thoothukudi fishing harbour had a fleet of 250 mechanised boats, some of which were unregistered. Permit tokens and subsidised diesel were being extended to every registered boat operators. If the operators did not comply with the norms, the benefits would not be extended to them, sources said.
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