KOCHI: The draft notification issued by the Union government proposing guidelines for the regulation of fishing activities beyond the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) has triggered a debate with fishing boat operators and fishermen unions alleging a move to facilitate corporate firms into deep sea fishing.
Though the last date for submitting suggestions on the proposal was August 30, fishermen’s organisations said they got the draft notification only on the last date. Though the notification accepts that marine fisheries are the livelihood of 4 million people in the country, it stresses the need for regulation to avoid over-exploitation and ensure sustainable use of the resources.
As per the regulation, any person engaging in deep sea fishing should obtain a valid permit from the issuing authority. The permit fee for boats more than 24m long is Rs 5 lakh while that of boats between 15m and 24m is Rs 1 lakh. The fee for boats between 12m to 15m is Rs 50,000. The validity of the permit is two years.
“The guidelines are necessary as currently, a considerable number (900+) of Indian vessels are fishing in areas outside the Indian EEZ without any protection or security from the GOI. However, it is disheartening to note the regulations are issued as a guideline and not as part of the proposed Indian Marine Fisheries Regulation Act,” said fisheries expert and former principal scientist of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute K Sunil Mohamed.
“The proposal to issue a permit to all Indian citizens for fishing on the high seas is also unacceptable. Though the preamble talks highly about the small-scale fishers in India, the guideline goes on to support private players. This is a grave contradiction and it needs to be rectified. The license ‘issuing authority is rightly the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, but should be supported and joined by the fisheries department of respective maritime states for ease of issuing licenses and conducting inspections,” he said He said that 12-15m vessels are too small to operate on the high-seas and safety is a big risk for them.
Sunil Mohamed said the licence fee should be reduced by half so that it does not put a burden on the small-scale fishermen. The number of licenses should be regulated based on scientific advice, he said.
The regulations are aimed at opening the deep sea fishing sector to corporate companies, alleged All India Deep Sea Fishers’ Association president Charles George.
“The Union government had rejected a proposal by the state government to provide 41 deep sea fishing vessels to 16 fishermen cooperative societies. The regulation will adversely affect around 650 small-scale deep sea fishing vessels operating from Kochi. We will launch a protest against the move,” he said.