The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Record fish catch result of trawling ban

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Thursday, Jun 18, 2009
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Kerala - Kochi

Record fish catch result of trawling ban

K.P.M. Basheer

Last year’s catch touched all-time high of 6.72 lakh tonnes

The increase in catch is across the board
There are close to 4,000 trawl boats in the State

Photo: Thulasi Kakkat

Casting the net wide: This fisherman is hopeful of a big catch as he spreads out his fishing net in the Kochi backwaters at Kumbalanghi. The ban on trawling by mechanised boats came into effect on June 15. —

KOCHI: The record marine fish catch in 2008-09 is being attributed to the sustained implementation of the monsoon trawling ban in the past two decades in the State. This assumes significance in the wake of the trawling ban that came into force this Monday (June 15).

Last year’s catch touched an all-time high of 6.72 lakh tonnes, way ahead of the 6.40 lakh tonnes of 1994.

According to Matsya Thozhilali Aikyavedi general secretary and Aquatic Reforms Committee member Charles George, fish catch had been rising gradually over the years. The rise had been was visible both in the production of pelagic fish (oil sardines, mackerel, tuna etc.) and demersal fish (prawns, cuttlefish, perch fish etc.)

One of the major reasons for this, Mr. George said, is the ban on monsoon trawling. The owners of trawl boats had always claimed that the ban is futile. They had always challenged the scientific logic of the ban, he said. Quoting studies by various Central government agencies and academic institutions, Mr. George claimed that the ban had done a lot of good to marine fisheries in the State.

Growth pattern

The annual average production of fish in the decade before the start of the ban in 1987 was just 3.38 lakh tonnes. But the annual average production grew to 5.27 lakh tonnes during 1987-96 and 5.75 lakh tonnes during 1996 to 2005. In 2007-08, the catch was 6.18 lakh tonnes and last year it was 6.72 lakh tonnes, he said.

The growth pattern, in his view, showed that it was the result of the trawling ban. The increase in catch was across the board and not restricted to a few species. (There are 323 species in Kerala’s marine waters). Trawling ban during the monsoon period started in Kerala, for the first time in the country, in 1988 following the recommendation of the N. Balakrishnan Nair Committee.

Fishing using trawl-fitted nets is said to be highly damaging to the fish population during the monsoon. This is based on the premise that monsoon is the breeding period for a variety of fish species and the trawls sweep the sea depths and all sizes of fish (adults, young ones etc) and eggs and larvae are trapped. Since the trawls catch the young ones and larvae, they hamper the growth of the fish population.

There are close to 4,000 trawl boats in the State and together they are estimated to catch roughly 2.5 lakh tonnes of fish. Along with this, they also catch more than one lakh tonnes of young ones which are unfit for consumption or industrial use.

The three consecutive studies by the Balakrishnan Nair Committee as well as a series of other studies had underscored the need for the ban for sustainability of the fish wealth.

The latest study by the 12-member committee headed by T.K. Singh, which presented its report in July 2007, also recommended for the continuation of the present 47-day ban.

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