Kerala - Kollam   

`Thousands affected by ban on monsoon trawling'

By Our Staff Reporter

KOLLAM, JULY 19. The Mechanised Fishing Boat Operators Association here has said that even as the annual ban on monsoon trawling was being regularly enforced during the past 16 years, the successive Governments have not bothered to look into the plight of the thousands of people who directly and indirectly depend upon trawling as a means of livelihood.

In an open letter to the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, the patron of the association, Naithil Vincent, said that it was because of the fact that the trawling ban remains controversial that 12 separate committees were constituted to study and report on whatever positive impacts the ban had brought about. However, while the studies have been conducted, virtually nothing has been done to convince the fishing sector on what exactly were the findings.

If the conservation of the marine wealth is one of the reasons for the implementation of the trawling ban, the association not only supports the same but also feels that the ban should be strictly implemented so as to fully encompass the spirit of its aim. But the moot point is that a sincere examination to ascertain whether the annual 45-day ban had met its aim is yet to materialise.

While de facto it is a ban on trawling, in reality trawling and fishing techniques harmful to the conservation of marine wealth is carried on wantonly by the so-called traditional fishing sector, which is exempted from the purview of the ban. Such techniques would wipe out the marine wealth and the authorities were yet to act upon this. It only exposes the fact that the ban is actually a conspiracy to destroy the mechanised trawling sector of the State. He said that if again preservation of marine wealth is the reason for the trawling ban, its enforcement along the Kerala coast alone would not suffice. A policy on that score need to be taken in association with the fisheries departments of the other States along the western coast. Moreover, it is not only enough that fish varieties harvested through mechanised trawling be protected. Fishing techniques harmful for the protection of marine wealth that were being employed by the traditional fishing sector should also be banned, the association has demanded.

The Government should also consider the fact that the growth of the mechanised fishing sector opened new avenues of employment to the traditional fishworkers and hundreds of them had joined the mechanised sector over the years, Mr. Vincent has said.

Boat owner commits suicide: Page 5

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