Kerala   

‘Check destructive fishing to save livelihoods’

NAYARAMBALAM (Ernakulam dist.): Against the grim reality of overfishing in Kerala’s 590-km-long coastline, fishery scientists, trade union leaders and Fisheries Department officials on Sunday called for strong steps for checking destructive fishing practices that have wiped out several popular fish varieties and slashed productivity.

At a ‘fishery development seminar’ that tried to address the key problems haunting the State’s marine fishing sector, they warned that if the current situation was let to stay, the sector was doomed.

Since the Government’s regulation infrastructure was too weak to handle the situation, self-regulation by the fish workers was the best.

The workers should take the initiative as they stood to lose their source of livelihood, the speakers suggested.

The seminar was organised by the Kerala Traditional Fish Workers Union in view of the upcoming recommendations of the Aquarian Reforms Committee.

It was followed by a ceremony at which Fisheries Minister S. Sarma was feted for his active role in getting the recent Monsoon Fishing Act that exempted traditional fishermen from the ban on monsoon fishing.

B. Madhusoodana Kurup of the Cochin University, who is also the fisheries advisor to the State Government, called for extra fish resource protection measures other than the ban on monsoon trawling. Trawl ban alone would not solve the problem of overfishing and destruction of fish resources.

He pointed out that because of reckless fishing, several species had gone from the Kerala coast. He noted that the maximum sustainable yield in Kerala’s territorial waters had already been overshot. Though Kerala’s coastline was just one-tenth of India’s, almost one-third of the nation’s fish catch came from Kerala.

He said that the number of boats and valloms (traditional boats) should be restricted. As of now, there were over 4,400 mechanised trawl boats in operation, in addition to a large number of modified craft (inboard valloms) and other fishing vessels. The current yield could be tapped by just 1,300 inboard valloms.

Charles George, general convener of the Traditional Fish Workers’ Union, wanted that the ownership of fishing vessels and means of fishing in Kerala’s territorial waters should be restricted to fish workers. In the outer sea, fishing should be carried out by the cooperative societies of fish workers.

The former Central Institute of Fisheries Technology Director, Dr. Ravindran, said there should be strict restrictions on the length of the boat, the horse power of the engine and the size and length of the mesh of nets. Fish workers should also get the first right to sell fish, he suggested.

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