The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Fishermen up in arms against ‘hefty’ registration fee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 29, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Fishermen up in arms against ‘hefty’ registration fee

Special Correspondent

Photo: H. Vibhu

Good catch: A fisherman sorting out a catch comprising pelagic fish at the Thoppumpadi fishing harbour in the city on Thursday. —

KOCHI: Fishermen who go fishing in canoes (‘valloms’) and their unions, who welcomed the Government move to get all fishing boats and canoes registered with the Department of Fisheries, are agitated over paying a ‘hefty’ registration fee.

The registration fee for each large motorised canoe (powered by an inboard engine, usually with 40 HP or more capacity) is Rs.42,500, union leaders said. The fee includes three years’ contribution (‘cess’), at the rate of Rs.1,250 a month, to the Fisheries Welfare Board.

The Kerala Parampragatha Malsya Thozhilali Union, which held an emergency meeting here on Thursday to discuss the issue, has decided to petition the Chief Minister, the Fisheries Minister and the Opposition Leader to drop the stipulation.

Charles George, union general secretary, said most of the canoe owners agreed to pay the registration fee of Rs.5,010 (including security deposit), but were opposed to the demand that they pay the three years’ cess in advance.

He said the 40 to 60 fishermen who worked for each canoe contributed Rs.100 each to the welfare board every year. Since a majority of the canoes were cooperatively owned by the fishermen, it amounted to ‘double taxation.’

The association said the Central Government should foot the bill of the welfare board as fish exporting companies owed around Rs.50 crore to the board in defaulted cess. The Government move to get the fishing vessels registered had been welcomed by the traditional fishermen as it would help streamline the marine fishing sector. It would also help regulate the sector by laying stipulations on the size of the vessels, engines used and fishing gear employed.

Registering the canoes would help fishermen get bank credit as well as insurance cover.

As opposed to the fishermen who use canoes, the owners of the fishing boats are against the registration as their boats have already been registered with the MPEDA and the Mercantile Marine Department.

Fishing vessel registration was introduced in Kerala in 1980, for the first time by a State Government in the country, as part of the Kerala Marine Fisheries Act. However, after 1986 the registration was stalled.

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