VISAKHAPATNAM: In an attempt to solve the conflict between fishermen of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts, collector Pravin Kumar and commissioner of police T Yoganand jointly convened a meeting with fishermen associations of the both districts, on Friday.
The fishermen of Visakhapatnam objected the aggressive mechanised boat fishing by their East Godavari counterparts saying that it is hitting their catch and the lives of those adopting traditional fishing. Both the groups had intense discussions about damaging each other’s fishing nets and attacks on each other in the sea. The fishermen of Visakhapatnam informed the collector that because of the East Godavari District fishing with mechanised boats, the fish not growing healthy in the sea.
While addressing the fishermen, collector Pravin Kumar said that he would bring the issue to the government’s notice and appealed to the both fishermen groups to cooperate with each other. The collector registered both groups’ arguments and said that there were no borders in the sea. However, according to the Marine Fishery Regulatory Act, any fisherman can do fishing with mechanised boats beyond 23 km off the coast and stringent action would be taken if any one crossed their limits, Pravin Kumar warned.
The collector also warned fishermen of Visakhapatnam of moving to Srikakulam during their fishing. The collector also appealed to the community leaders to solve issues to avoid disputes.
Speaking at the meeting, commissioner of Police T Yoganand appealed to fishermen to stop attacking each other and warned that criminal cases will be registered against such crimes.