KOCHI: The 52-day trawling ban came into force from Tuesday midnight on the day when lockdown restrictions have been relaxed across the state. The ban, which will remain in force till July 30, is a double blow for the fishers, who were hit by both the cyclone warning and the Covid restrictions over the last few months.
Following the ban, about 3,800 trawlers, 600 gillnet boats and 60 purse seine boats have returned to the shore. Most of them have been moved to the backwaters where they will be idling for the next one-and-half months. The ban comes after the government rejected the fishers’ plea to merge the 52-day period with the lockdown days so they they get enough time to save their livelihood by venturing into the seas when the lockdown rules are eased.