KOLLAM: Even as measures are being initiated at the district level for the successful implementation of the annual 45-day ban on trawling from June 15, mechanised boat owners are planning to send a delegation to meet Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and Fisheries Minister S. Sarma with a request for reducing the number of ban days.

Kollam District Fishing Boat Operators Association general secretary M.S. James says the prime request of the boat owners is total withdrawal of the ban. Though they have genuine reasons for that, successive Governments have turned a deaf ear to it.

Over the years when the ban was in force, the nation had lost marine wealth worth billions of dollars in foreign exchange, he says. Though there is an argument that the ban is imposed in the best interests of marine wealth, huge foreign trawlers are allowed to enter the Kerala waters and harvest lavishly during the ban period.

According to Mr. James, the highly valuable `karikadi' variety of shrimp is available only along the Kollam coast, especially during monsoon. This prized catch is denied to the boat owners due to the ban.

He says it has not been established so far whether the ban has served any positive purpose. In fact, it had brought misery to thousands of people who depend on the mechanised fishing sector for a livelihood. Over 350 exporting units and almost 1,000 ice plants have closed down on account of the ban.

0Also, thousands of peeling workers have been denied their livelihood. Several boat owners have been forced to take the extreme step of committing suicide. The association wants the Government to consider these facts before any Cabinet decision is taken.

`Industry in crisis'

The seafood industry in the State is sinking as a result of the ban. If the Government is interested in reviving the industry, it has to make compromises.

The boat owners are willing to cooperate if it is a total fishing holiday. But monsoon-time ban on trawling is a cruel law and has vested interests behind it, he adds.

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