State pitches for VHF sets for fishermen with Centre

The state government represented by Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar also presented a memorandum which urged the Centre to take up the issues of attack on Indian fishermen who inadvertently traverse into international waters.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Jayakumar said that the issue of fishermen attacks was deliberated at length.

“There is no tangible line in the high-seas to demarcate the boundaries and the fishermen usually go adrift due to inclement weather. In such scenarios, the neighbouring country should not resort to attacking those fishermen and impound the boats. We insisted that the issue be strongly taken up with the Sri Lankan government and to retrieve the boats confiscated by Lanka,” Jayakumar said.

On the communication setup during emergencies, the Minister said that there is a proposal to provide VHF and High Frequency (HF) wireless sets to communicate with fishermen who venture beyond 25 nautical miles in the sea.

“The technology has improved and we should equip our fishermen on that. The need for simplification of procedures was taken up during the meeting,” the Minister added.

Trotting out a list of welfare assistance with Centre’s share, Jayakumar observed that the state did not point to the delay in funds from Centre to any of such schemes. He said this itself has accrued to a backlog of Rs 92 crore and the Centre was asked to release the same.

Measures such as developing offshore marine resources by deepening and widening of river mouths and installation of artificial reefs near the shore in the entire coast besides encouraging deep sea fishing came up during the discussion. These initiatives are being undertaken in the state, he said.

Demand for a separate ministry for fishermen welfare as promised by the Centre was reiterated during the meeting, he added.

The management issue related to Chennai Fishing Harbour was also brought up with the state requesting the Agriculture Ministry to devolve the administrative powers to the state to enable infrastructure development works among others.