The Hindu : Karnataka News : Relaxation of ban on fishing to 45 days welcomed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 13, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Relaxation of ban on fishing to 45 days welcomed

Staff Correspondent

Ban relaxed to 45 days from 65

MANGALORE: The Government Order restricting the monsoon fishing ban to 45 days from the earlier 65 days has been welcomed by the mechanised fishing sector, and the Fisheries Department says that traditional fishermen also stand to gain.

Karnataka and Kerala have gone along with the 45-day ban that is in force on the east coast while the 65-day ban continues in Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. However, traditional fishermen using boats with 10 hp outboard motors can fish during the monsoon. Earlier there was no mention about the engine capacity in the Government Order, which permitted fishing by traditional fishermen using country boats.

Traditional fishermen used to fish during the monsoon on the strength of an unwritten convention, but now they are armed with the Government Order. The order dated May 4, 2005 permits traditional fishermen to use 10 hp outboard motors for propelling their boats.

Over the years the country boats have become bigger. The boats now measure up to 55 feet and are made of reinforced fibreglass, which makes them stronger to withstand the onslaught of the monsoon waves. But, according to the Naadadoni fishermen's association, these boats are heavy and they need 25 hp outboard motors.

According to Fisheries Department specifications, country boats should not measure more than 20 feet, but advances in technology allow country boats to be as large as purse-seine boats, but without cabins.

Representatives of the Naadadoni associations met the former Fisheries Minister K. Jayaprakash Hegde and appealed to him to seek an increase in the capacity of the outboard motors from 10 hp to 25 hp in the Government Order.

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