The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Boats head seaward as trawl ban ends

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 01, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Boats head seaward as trawl ban ends

K.P.M. Basheer

Too many boats and workers sharing limited fish yield
Over-fishing by mechanised boats also is a problem

KOCHI: After a 47-day layoff imposed by the monsoon trawl ban, 3,000-odd mechanised fishing boats will be heading for sea at pre-dawn on Wednesday. The ban, which came into effect on June 15, ended on Tuesday midnight.

Boat owners said the vessels would leave the shore a little after midnight. Depending on the catch, they would remain at sea for two to seven days. In preparation for this day, boats were being repaired and the nets mended in the past couple of weeks. Some 1,000 Tamil Nadu boats, mainly from Kolachal and Kanyakumari, will also operate off the Kerala coast. Till recently, several boats from Karnataka had also been operating here, but because of the fall in the catch last season, only a handful of them have shown up now.

Dwindling catch has been a serious concern of the fishing sector. Productivity — per boat and per worker — has consistently been falling over the years, boat owners and fish workers claim. However, fishery experts and research agencies contend that the yield has been rising, though marginally. They attribute fall in productivity to many boats and workers sharing the limited fish yield.

Scientists point out that the sea is now crowded. There are three times more boats and ‘valloms’ than the current level of fish yield can sustain. To stay ahead, boats have been getting more and more mechanised. Over-fishing and destructive fishing result. It’s estimated that around 35,000 tonnes of young fish — that would have yielded more than one lakh tonnes of adult fish — are caught yearly by the vessels that use net against the Government specifications.

‘Valloms,’ which once used 10 HP motors for propulsion, now use 80, 120, 160 and even 180 HP motors.

The vessels’ size too has increased. Many use 1,000-metre long nets.

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