Traditional fishermen have demanded that pelagic trawling be banned even beyond 12 nautical miles to ensure sustainable fisheries even as a standoff between traditional boat operators and trawl boat operators over use of โdestructive modes of fishingโ continued to mar the marine fisheries sector in the State.
The traditional fishermenโs call comes after trawling boat operators maintained that beyond 12 nautical miles pelagic trawling had not been banned. Traditional fishermen claimed they had not been engaging in the practice beyond restrictions imposed by Kerala marine fishing rules and that the Central government had not allowed or stood in favour of โdestructive practicesโ.
Jackson Pollayil of independent fishermenโs union Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation alleged that the trawl boat operators were only trying to justify their action. He said traditional fishermen would submit a memorandum to the Ministry of Fisheries to ban pelagic trawling even beyond 12 nautical miles off the Indian coast.
Meanwhile, a meeting of traditional fishermen and boat owners convened by the Kerala Coastal Police, and attended by officials of the Fisheries department and the Coast Guard, discussed the issues and it was decided that strict action would be taken against anyone engaging in illegal fishing practices.
Joseph Xavier Kalapurackal, general secretary of Kerala Fishing Boat Operatorsโ Association, had earlier said that even traditional fishermen engaged in unsustainable fishing activities, including the use of purse seine nets. The claim was disputed by Mr. Pollayil, who said that traditional fishermen used only nets with the prescribed mesh size supplied by the fisheries apex cooperative Matsyafed. He said that earlier purse seine nets of mesh size 10 to 15 mm used to be deployed. But at present, such nets had been replaced by nets of mesh size 36 mm and Matsyafed had been supplying them, he added.
On the basis of the โpositive resultsโ of the discussions, the traditional fishermen said they were ready to roll back their protests. However, if the assurances were not carried out, they would be forced to continue with the protest action, including a strike by fishermen in Kozhikode on August 29, they added.
The standoff between the two categories of fishing boat operators had seen traditional fishermen seizing boats that were allegedly engaged in pelagic trawling, leading to a major protest near the Kalamukku fish landing centre near Kochi a fortnight ago.
