THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Banned fishing practices like light fishing, juvenile fishing and use of fish aggregating devices are aplenty and the marine enforcement and Fisheries Department are struggling to catch the culprits. As many as 172 boxes of juvenile fish were caught the other day by the Fisheries Department in the district.
At a time when South Indian states are also trying to follow the policies related to juvenile catching implemented by Kerala so as to put an end to the practice, the state authorities have miserably failed to implement the same here. Last month, a boat was caught doing light fishing in Kochi and was fined a whopping Rs 2.5 lakh. However, rarely do the enforcement agencies catch them during the act.
When it comes to light fishing by traditional fishermen, the department has many limitations in curbing it.
“We use rented boats and most traditional fishermen have old boats and we should always be wary of any accident that can happen. This gives them time to get away. Also, this is done in a large scale by bigger boats and they always evade our detection systems. While the department is better equipped than before, we still lack the manpower and expertise to curb these issues,” said an official of the Fisheries Department. In Thiruvananthapuram, light fishing happens mainly in the Mariyapuram- Anchuthengu region and Vizhinjam.
T Peter, president, National Fish Workers Forum, said, “Though there are sufficient laws, the government has lost the spirit to implement the same. The Fisheries Department is aware of various landing points in the coast and if they take the effort the law-breakers can be caught. However, there are many outside interferences to prevent such actions. Though juvenile fishing has been banned, it’s the very government that has come up with nets with small mesh through Matsyafed. A lack of perspective and efficiency in implementation from the part of government have been leading to the elimination of the marine wealth.”
The Kerala Marine Fisheries Act allows the government to make rules/ issue orders to ensure the protection of marine wealth. Many government orders were issued in due course of time, including a ban on night trawling and fish aggregating devices. However, the ill-equipped guards and understaffed department are no way keen on implementing the orders.