Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

GO ends confusion over ban on fishing

Staff Reporter

Fisheries officials seek exemption this year

VISAKHAPATNAM: A belated GO issued by the Fisheries Department has finally put an end to the confusion on the enforcement of ban on fishing by motorised vessels.

Though the ban, part of a conservation drive during breeding season of shrimps being observed every year for 45 days from April 15 to May 31 off the entire East Coast, including Andaman and Nicobar islands, the Fisheries Department issued the GO, albeit backdated, on April 30.

The reason: The fisheries officials had urged the Union Ministry of Agriculture for exemption from the ban this year due as the fishing industry suffered due to tsunami.

Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh Mechanised Boat Operators' Welfare Association had also sought exemption from the ban for the year along with the Association of Indian Fisheries Industry.

The Union Ministry issued an order in March for observing the ban based on which the Indian Coast Guard, Visakhapatnam Port Trust and the Marine Mercantile Department had announced the ban from April 15.

However, the delayed order issued by the State Fisheries led to enforcement of the ban from May 1 in Vizag and other coastal areas. When contacted, a senior official of Fisheries Department told The Hindu that none had ventured into the sea after their intervention. Even before the issuance of GO, the members of the Dolphin Boat Operators' Welfare Association had sought the ban as per schedule stating that fishing had become unviable due to the dwindling catch.

``We are very happy that now all the boat operators have stopped their fishing operations,'' the DBOWA general secretary, Satyanarayana Murthy, said.

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