Karnataka - Mangalore   

Forum to discuss issue of licence to foreign trawlers

Special Correspondent

MANGALORE: The National Fishworkers' Forum has convened a meeting in Chennai in the wake of the Union Government issuing fresh licences to foreign fishing trawlers to undertake fishing expeditions in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Karnataka Karavali Fishermen Action Committee, which is sending its representatives to the meeting scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, fears that foreign fishing trawlers will wreck the nation's food security and affect the livelihood of fishermen.

Secretary of the committee Vasudeva Boloor said the Government had cleared licences for 110 foreign fishing vessels to fish in the Indian waters.President of the forum Harekrishna Debnath told The Hindu from Kolkata that by clearing the licences for foreign trawlers, the Government had posed a clear and present danger to the fishermen community here.

Also known as industrial fleet, these trawlers, which had onboard grading and processing units, would discard low value fish back into the sea, he said and added that this would not only destroy fish progeny but also snatch the source of cheap protein to the people.

This was a serious threat to the food security of the poor, he added.

Mr. Debnath said the licences had been issued on the "presumption" that the Indian fishermen were not able to harvest deepwater fish such as the yellow fin tuna.

Fishermen leaders from all over the country are expected to attend the meeting.

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