THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : While the state government has enacted laws and implemented an annual trawling ban to prevent destructive fishing practices and aid fish breeding, the marine wealth off the Thiruvananthapuram coast is facing another threat – ‘light fishing’.
Fishermen from Pallithura allege mechanised vessels equipped with fixed LED lights have been resorting to ‘light fishing’ in the deep sea over the past several months in violation of the Kerala Marine Fishing Regulation Act 2017. While the 52-day trawling ban — first implemented in 1989 — stipulates that trawlers remain at a distance of 12 nautical miles from the coastline, ‘light fishing’ vessels are now operating beyond that limit in the deep sea to catch juvenile fish, the fishermen point out.
Raju Stephen, 43, is a second-generation fisherman belonging to Pallithura who uses gill nets, kambavala in local parlance, along with 30 to 40 other fishermen. As the earnings are minimal, he and his team on certain days venture into the deep sea twice a day. That’s when they have spotted ‘light fishing’, he says.
“I keep hearing people say that, after the tsunami, there has been a dearth of different varieties of sardine, anchovy and red snapper. My experience shows that this is because the Thiruvananthapuram coastline has been witnessing light fishing, whereby juvenile fish are being caught in large quantities and sold to restaurant owners,” Raju tells TNIE.
Aware of the destructive practice, the marine enforcement cell of the fisheries department has been holding regular patrolling in the sea, says Joint Director of Fisheries (Project) M Thajudeen.
“It’s the traditional fishermen who resort to light fishing, and there have been instances of fishermen falling into the sea as their boats capsize when the enforcement cell team approaches them,” Thajudeen says.
The department has been organising awareness camps regularly for fishermen with the support of the local church authorities, he says.
“Fishermen from the earlier generations were genuinely concerned about fish wealth but the current set of fishermen focus only on making money. We impound their boats and fine them depending on the size and capacity of the engine, which varies from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25, 000,” Thajudeen says.
According to the latest statistics, Kerala ranks third in marine produce at 6.9 lakh tonnes, behind Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, he adds.