NAGAPATTINAM: The conflict between fishers in Vedaranyam and other districts over fishing in Kodiyakarai waters was resolved in a meeting with stake holders on Wednesday.
The district administration has capped the number of fishers banned fishers from other districts from entering Kodiyakarai and capped the number of people from Nagapattinam. District Collector Praveen P Nair said, "A maximum of 300 fishers from taluks such as Sirkazhi, Tharangambadi, Nagapattinam, Kilvelur and Vedaranyam can fish and anchor boats in Kodiyakarai. Fishers from other districts are not allowed."
Kodiyakarai is a favourite destination for fishers from across Tamil Nadu as it is a point where Coramandal Coast meets Palk Strait. Coromandel Coast becomes rough during North-East Monsoon whereas Palk Strait remains calm as Sri Lanka acts as barrier to strong winds in the Bay of Bengal. Hence fishers prefer to fish in Palk Strait from November to January.
Vedaranyam fishers objected fishing by people from other districts saying it affected their livelihood and staged a series of protests. Ending the conflict, R Amal Xavier, Joint Director of Fisheries department said, "We will not allow anyone from other districts to visit Kodiyakarai. A permit system will be introduced at Kodiyakarai about the arrivals and landings. The fisher panchayats in four other taluks can decide about who can go to Kodiyakarai. We will give priority to those fishers from other taluks who had been there at Kodiyakarai for a while."
Officials said that they would regulate the movement of fishers towards Kodiyakarai.
"If a fisher is not a resident of Kodiyakarai and belongs to taluks such as Sirkazhi, Tharangambadi, Nagapattinam and Kilvelur, he needs to get permission from us for moving to Vedaranyam taluk and berth at Kodiyakarai. However, there is no objection to fish in Palk Strait," said G Jayaraj, Assistant Director of Fisheries department (south).
Only about 18 villages turned up for the meeting on Wednesday although over 50 villagers were invited. This indicated there might still be some disagreement among fishers. Vedaranyam taluk expressed satisfaction. "We welcome this decision by the district administration. We request exclusive privilege to use threadfin fish nets in Palk Strait," said S Ramesh, a fisher-representative from Pushpavanam in Vedaranyam taluk.