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45-day trawling ban from today midnight

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George Joseph Chennai/ Kochi
Last Updated : Feb 14 2013 | 10:52 PM IST
A 45-day trawling ban will come into effect in the state by midnight of June 14. Interestingly, an aggressive fishing by traditional boats will also commence at the same time.
 
Due to various reasons the state government has avoided a political risk by announcing a regular trawling ban, which has been in effect since 1988. This time too the government is not willing to declare a total fishing holiday as directed by the Centre.
 
The government has diplomatically evaded such a difficult situation by declaring that there would be an expert committee to study the impact of the 18-year trawling ban and any decision in this regard would be taken only after studying the committee report.
 
By this act, the state government has clearly indicated that it is not in favour of a total fishing ban during monsoon as per the Centre's directive.
 
Ever since the 45-day fishing ban came into force in 1988, governments have allowed traditional boats during the period since it is the only source of livelihood for around 5 lakh- odd fishermen in the state.
 
So far no government has the courage to declare a fishing holiday as this will trigger a serious law and order problem along the 789-km long coastal belt of the state.
 
However, the very objective of trawling ban is being questioned as more than 8000 traditional boats sail to the sea with out-board and in-board engines.
 
The ban is limited to only 5000 mechanised trawling boats in the state. Interestingly, a large number of traditional boats are bigger than trawling boats which can sail into the deep sea.
 
"These are even bigger than trawling boats with more powerful engines. The government is making a mockery of the ban by allowing them to sail during the ban period", said a trawling vessel owner. The protest by boat owners has grown feebler as the annual 45-day trawling ban has now been an accepted practice.
 
P K Thomas, a boat owner, told Business Standard that a large number of trawling boats were keeping away from the sea due to escalation in the cost of fishing and low yield for the last one year. Around 50 percent of the trawling boats have been idle for the last 12-15 months especially after tsunami as the fish catch is very low.
 
The tsunami impact on the fishing sector is very serious as a large number species has disappeared from the sea. Against this background, experts feel that the government should impose a total ban instead of partial ban during monsoon to enable fishermen to tap marine resources for a longer period.
 
Apart from this, the rising diesel prices too has served a serious blow to the fishing sector.
 
Jossy Palliparambil, co-ordinator of Green Seas, an NGO, told Business Standard that the fishing sector could not withstand such an escalation of diesel prices as 75 percent of the cost of fishing would go into fuel.
 
In the last 10 years, there has been a five-fold increase (500%) in the price of diesel, from Rs 7.84 per litre in 1996 to Rs 35.70 in 2006, while prices of fish have increased 50-100 percent only.
 
The average working expenditure on a fishing vessel for one week is Rs 50,000, but in most cases the value realisation is to the tune of Rs 15,000-25,000.

 
 

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First Published: Jun 14 2006 | 12:00 AM IST

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