Kerala fishermen urge talks before allowing deep sea fishing by large vessels

T'puram: Kerala Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedi has urged Centre to hold talks with the state before allowing deep-sea fishing by large vessels. They also advocate for the establishment of real fishermen cooperatives to handle operations instead of granting deep-sea fishing rights to corporate fishers with large boats.Small fishermen in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and other parts of the state are worried about the impact on fish resources because these large boats are allowed to fish closer to the shore. Charles George of Aikya Vedi said state govt stated that they will not accept the blue economy policy of Union govt but they have not presented an alternative yet. He alleged that Union govt was trying to bring in capital-intensive businesses into a labour-intensive field of fishing after claiming that some of the fish like oceanic squid, tuna and deep-sea prawns are not being exploited enough by the small fishermen and the existing fishing boats in state. Sardines that disappeared from the coast since 2012 have made a comeback in 2023, but they are still mostly caught and sent to chicken feed-making factories in other states. However, these fish are stunted and barely grow into the minimum legal size, he added. "After associations protested in 2014, govt barred foreign boats, but Indian companies are now being brought into the space vacated by the foreign vessels and are allowed to fish within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles from the coast. Earlier, such large boats that belonged to corporates used to be allowed only outside the EEZ. These boats will be allowed to transfer the catch to ships mid-sea or can land the catch in foreign ports," George said. He added that the large vessels can fish near the Andamans and can sell in Thailand. "Attempts to modernise, install modern communication systems on hundreds of fibre boats and 3,000 trawlers that operate along the state's coast have not taken off yet. The fisherfolk have not received training. Instead of allowing corporates, govt should find local fishermen, train them and then join neighbouring nations in a sort of fisheries management alliance and sign bilateral agreements with Sri Lanka, Iran and Oman for better handling of fish resources and to fish in the sea near their shores." George said.