NEW DELHI: A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre and the state government to permit fishermen of Tamil Nadu to catch fish using purse seine nets within 5K radius and for no action or disturbance to those catching fish using purse seine nets beyond the restricted area or above 12 nautical miles.
“Petitioners and their family members across the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu have been affected by the ban on the use of purse seine nets by the fisheries department. Especially from Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, entire fishermen families are starving and they were urging the government many times to roll back the ban which is affecting their livelihood. Purse-seine fishing in open water is generally considered to be an efficient form of fishing. It has no contact with the seabed and can have low levels of bycatch. Purse seines can also be used to catch fish congregating around fish aggregating devices. This fishing method can result in higher levels of bycatch,” the writ petition reads.
It has been submitted by the petitioner Gnanasekar and others that the Ministry of Agriculture had appointed a committee to review the duration of the ban period and suggest further measures to strengthen conservation and management aspects. The technical committee submitted their report in 2014.
They have contended that the report of the technical committee to review the duration of the ban period had recommended that "Considering the quantum of investment in purse seines and the lack of alternate gears to catch small pelagics, a total ban on purse seines may not be economically advisable. Added to this, the two gears are relatively energy efficient and leave a low carbon foot-print.”
The petitioners state that other coastal states have not banned the use of purse seine nets except some restrictions. "Traditional fishermen of the fishing community of Tamil Nadu have been deprived of catching the pelagic fish as such their earnings becomes a meager level by which they have been suffering from maintaining their livelihood and also they have failed to provide their children education, nutrition and any economic interest and development," they added.