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Rangasamy assures all assistance to fishermen

PUDUCHERRY: Chief Minister N. Rangasamy on Monday assured fishermen of all assistance to carry out deep sea fishing.

Responding to the plea made by Education Minister M.O.H.F Shahjahan, who also holds the fisheries portfolio, to provide the infrastructure facility along the coastal belt to carry out deep sea fishing, Mr. Rangasamy said the government was concerned about the depleting marine resources and necessary steps would be taken to overcome the loss.

Inaugurating a two-day workshop on deep sea fishing held by the Department of Fisheries in Puducherry in collaboration with the Fisheries Department of Maharashtra government, he said once the dredging work at the Ariankuppam river mouth was completed, the fishermen would be able to operate bigger vessels for deep sea fishing.

Expressing his gratitude to the Maharashtra Government for extending support to train the fishermen in Puducherry for deep sea fishing, Mr. Rangasamy said all assistance would be given to the fishing community to augment their means of livelihood.

Mr. Shahjahan, who highlighted the priorities with regard to providing infrastructure, said proper facility should be made in coastal areas for berthing bigger fishing vessels, besides creating facilities such as fish processing centres and storage facilities.

On the steps taken to encourage deep sea fishing in the region, Director of Fisheries, Puducherry G. Ramalakshmi told The Hindu that they had decided to extend financial assistance of 50 per cent towards the cost of purchasing mechanised crafts for registered fishermen.

The financial assistance was subject to a maximum of Rs 2.5 lakh, she added.

So far, a total of 16 fishermen from Puducherry and Karaikal were given the assistance, she said adding that a similar package had been devised for fishermen who were interested to procure steel boats for deep sea fishing. For buying steel boats, the department would give 50 per cent of the cost of the boat subject to a maximum of Rs. 11 lakh, she pointed out.

She said two fishermen in Karaikal who had availed themselves of the assistance had completed construction of their steel boats and would soon venture for fishing.

According to her, there had been a depletion of catch of around 5000 metric tones annually.

However, the production had picked up after the tsunami and last year it had produced 45,000, she said.

Commissioner of Fisheries, Government of Maharashtra Upamanya Chatterjee promised all assistance to the Union Territory administration to equip the fishermen for deep sea fishing.

Director General, Fishery Survey of India, Mumbai V. S Somvanshi said the Union Territory could increase the fish production to around 75,000 tonnes if it adopted deep sea fishing.

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