‘Amendments to Fishing Act ignore fishermen’s welfare’

Amending the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act 1983 has raised the hackles of fishermen who complain that it would only aggravate their problems. Nearly 20,000 fishermen and 1,400 boats from Chennai’s Royapuram fishing harbour have refrained from putting out to sea for the third day on Tuesday. 

According to Rameswaram fishermen “the amendment was blindly undertaken without considering local conditions.” According to C R Senthilvel, state general secretary of the CITU-backed Tamil Nadu Fishermen’s Cooperative Federation, the amendments made on February 20 have raised the mechanised boats’ engine power from 150 to 240 HP and have ordered that country boats with 8 HP engines should fish beyond three nautical miles. 

He said it has also demanded that fishing boats hereafter should register under the Merchant Vessels Act of 1958 as against the present practice of registering under a similar 1972 act.”

 Stating that fishing boats which were exempted from income tax could lose this facility because of this, he said raising engine power to 240 HP would only benefit bigger mechanised vessels which use the banned purse seine and pair seine fishing nets. Similarly, Rameswaram fishermen who earlier had to fish beyond three nautical miles now have to fish beyond five nautical miles. 

Fisherman Balakumar said it would only make fishermen more vulnerable to attacks by Sri Lankan navy. “As the coast adjoining the Palk strait is less than 40 feet deep and with Rameswaram and Vedaranyam being 12 nautical miles and seven nautical miles respectively from Katchatheevu, the amendment will only create additional problems,” he added. 

Many a time Sri Lankan Navy attacks take place within Indian waters because of this issue, sources said. “A separate act for Rameswaram and nearby areas was thus, a must,” Senthilvel said. The proposal of setting up coordination committees at the district fishing harbour levels won’t help, as it will only pave way for politicians’ intervention in fishermen issues.