'Fishing holiday could set off a storm'

Committee recommends 47-day ban on fishing

The recommendation of an expert committee to declare a 47-day fishing holiday would create law and order problems in Kerala, feel experts and fishermen.

The expert committee, under the chairmanship of Mohan Joseph Modayil, director, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), has recommended a ban on all mechanised vessels, including traditional mechanised boats, in order to have a fishing holiday during monsoon period between June 15 and July 31.

There has been a 45-day trawling ban in Kerala since 1988 in order to protect various marine species. But this is limited to about 5,000 mechanised trawling boats.

Traditional fishing boats with in-board engines are allowed during the ban period. But, both the UDF and LDF governments have exempted traditional boats from the ban in order to avoid any law and order problems and to appease the fisher folk.

But the committee has recommended a ban on fishing involving boats having engines above 10 HP and traditional boats with both in-board and on-board engines. The Centre has even given green signal to the recommendations and suggested that all state governments implement them from the next season onwards.

K P Suresh, a traditional fisherman, said that banning all the boats would not be possible as it would endanger the lives of around 2 lakh-plus traditional fishermen in Kerala.

"Fishing holiday is not practical. Some rare species of fish and prawns are available only in the monsoon season," he said. "This will create tension in the coastal area and if the government decides to fully ban trawling we will not allow it," he added.

Since 1988, several committees have studied this issue but the ban has been limited to trawlers only. In 2004, the state government had initiated an action to implement a total fishing holiday but failed due to strong protest from fishermen.

Jossy Palliparambil, co-ordinator, Green Seas, an NGO in fishing sector based in Kochi, told Business Standard that fishing holiday would not be a practical solution as it would create law and order problems along the coastal belt of the state. He said that the government had to seek alternative avenues including trawling ban during summer.