Thoothukudi and Ramnad fishing harbours back in action after 2 months

With renewed hopes of a sufficient catch, fishermen on board mechanised boats ventured into sea.

The annual fishing ban in the State, enforced by the government through the Fisheries Department, is aimed at facilitating the breeding of fishes and the conservation of fish stock in marine ecology. Since mechanised boats are usually deep-fishing trawlers-which drag large, weighted nets over the sea bed, causing harm to the marine habitat during the breeding season, such restrictions are enforced on their fishing operations. However, country boats engaged in fishing as usual, sources said.

Among the fleet of 250 mechanised boats in Thoothukudi fishing harbor, 212 boats set out to sea after obtaining permit tokens.

R J Bosco, joint secretary, Thoothukudi Deep Sea Mechanised Boat Fishing Development Association, who looks forward to multi-day fishing, said 36 boats of around 30 metres in length, were poised to register under The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. Of this, 16 boats, which had been fully equipped to standards prescribed by the Act, currently ventured into sea in the first phase as per guidelines of the Tamil Nadu Marine Fisheries Regulation Act (TNMFRA)1983, which allows fishing from 5 am to 9 pm daily.

N.J. Bose, president, Rameswaram Mechanised Boat Fishermen Association, said most of his fellow fishermen were content with the catch on the first day after fishing activity resumed. In the initial period, high-valued marine edible species such as shrimps, squid and crabs were normally caught.

In Ramanathapuram district, out of 1,524 mechanised boats, around 95 percent of the fleet resumed fishing, E Kathavarayan, the Regional Deputy Director of Fisheries, said. He further said 32 boats were found to have ventured into sea on Friday illegally and that action would be taken against them under TNMFRA.