PARADIP: A group of fishermen of the port town has threatened to intensify their agitation in protest against illegal use of bag nets for fishing by another group in Mahanadi river mouth.
On Saturday, they staged a demonstration in front of Additional District Magistrate (ADM) office here and sought intervention of the local administration. Later in a meeting at Chaumuhani here, they demanded complete ban on use of bag nets for shoreline fishing in Paradip.
They alleged that some unscrupulous fishermen have erected bag nets at different places on Mahanadi river mouth to catch huge quantity of fish. This net stretches by 500 metres to half km and sometimes fishermen attach two or three such nets and cover an area of 1 to 2 km pulling out a large proportion of fish population. The nets have mesh spanning from 25 mm to 35 mm that blocks small fish, fishlings and fish eggs from falling back into the ocean, thereby stopping them from multiplying. Use of bag nets has not only affected the livelihood of other fishermen, who use grill nets, but also restricted the free movement of boats. Though the fishery department had banned the use of such nets, it is being violated by the fishermen, they said.
Sources said nearly 700 deep-sea fishing trawlers and 2,000 mechanised boats are operating in Paradip area. Around 50,000 people of Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts depend on fishing for livelihood. Both siltation of river mouth and erection of bag nets are the main hindrances for smooth boat operation. The depth of river mouth, which was about 13 metres, has now reduced to only two metres. The problems of fishermen have compounded due to siltation and erection of bag nets for catching fish, they said.
Meanwhile, members of Kaibartya Mahasangh led by Ranjan Kumar Behera, Ratanakar Tarai and Suresh Majhi have lodged an FIR at Marine police station against some fishermen for illegal use of bag nets. Last week, Fishery and Revenue officials led by Paradip ADM Biswajit Biswal visited the spot and verified the use of bag nets. He also interacted with both the fishermen communities to resolve the issue.
Assistant Director of Fisheries (marine) Manas Ranjan Sahoo said the use of bag nets with small size mesh for catching fishes is illegal. “We have sought the intervention Divisional Forest Officer, Rajnagar to check the practice and remove such nets from Mahanadi river mouth soon,” he added.