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“Catch in Puducherry, Tamil Nadu not in proportion to fishing effort”

PUDUCHERRY: Though Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have been producing over a total of 4.2 lakh tonnes of marine fishes, the catch was not in proportion to the fishing effort in terms of number of boats, fishing hours and fishermen, according to experts who spoke at the workshop on “judicious fishing,” which concluded here on Saturday.

Former Dean of the Government Fisheries College in Tuticorin V.Sundararaj, who spoke on “coastal resources and their rational management for livelihood of fisher folk,” said the size of the fish captured had also come down considerably. Harvesting of the fish without any concern for the breeder fish and the young ones was one of the major causes for depletion of specific varieties of fishes and there was no scope for further improvement in capture fishery production in the near shore waters, he pointed out. He highlighted the status of the stock of various marine fishery resources such as fin fish, lobsters, crabs, mussels, pearl oysters and sea cucumbers. He also referred to the availability of institutional support for capture fishery, aquaculture, fish processing and marketing. Dr.Sundararaj stressed the need for exploiting the mariculture resources including sea bass, grouper, crustacean, molluscan and seaweed culture in a selective and sustainable manner for the benefit of the fisherfolk and the nutritional and economic growth of the country. Ensuring an increase in the phytoplankton resources was essential for production of bio-diesel, he said, adding that efficient utilisation of these resources through right technology would give greater dividend than the fuel produced from jatropha plant, he pointed out.

Dr.Sundararaj also underscored the need for adopting proper post-harvest technology to avoid spoilage of the fish owing to bio-chemical changes, fish capture methods and wrong handling of the fish.

Fisheries Coordinator of Food and Agriculture Organisation C.M.Muralidharan called for efforts by all those involved in fisheries and aquaculture to work together to conserve and manage fish resources and their habitats. He also stressed the need for formulating policies with the cooperation of all stakeholders with a view to achieving long-term sustainable use of fish resources as per the FAO’s Code. Fisheries should be managed in such a way to ensure that fishing and fish processing were conducted with minimal negative impact on the environment, besides preserving the quality of the catch. Punishment for violations could include fines or even cancellation of licences if the violation was severe, he opined.

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