MANGALORE: D.V. Sadananda Gowda, MP, has appealed to the district administration to mitigate the difficulties faced by the fishermen in Dakshina Kannada owing to fishermen from other States landing their catch here.

Mr. Gowda, who visited the old Mangalore Port on Tuesday, held talks with fishermen leaders and was convinced that the facilities at the old Mangalore port is not sufficient to park additional 200 boats of fishermen from Tamil Nadu. There is a shortage of fresh water supply and space for auctioning and landing their catch, he said. Fishermen from Tamil Nadu should not be allowed to land their catch in old Mangalore port, but at the same time they cannot be denied of their rights to fish in the Karnataka territorial waters, as the waters belonged to the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone.

Until such time that the old Mangalore port has adequate facilities for more fishing boats and landing areas, the infiltration of fishermen from other States should be monitored and discouraged. Mr. Gowda also held talks with Deputy Commissioner H.V. Parshwanath.

Standoff resolved

Mr. Parshwanath told The Hindu that the standoff by fishermen has been settled amicably.

Orders regarding the provision to park only the local fishermen's vessels will be out on Wednesday. Dr. Parshwanath, who visited the old Mangalore Port on Tuesday afternoon, felt that there was indeed a shortage of space for parking the boats.

Dr. Parshwanath had earlier received representations from fishermen leaders such as Loknath Bolar, and Vasudeva Boloor, who had apprised him about the difficulties.

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