Fishing boat operators in Andhra eye good catch this season

Mechanised fishing boat operators in the state are all set for their voyage in the Bay of Bengal from Sunday midnight after the 60-day fishing ban. This was the first time the Union government had imposed a 60-day ban on the east coast on the request of the fishing industry as against the previous 45-day period.

Around 2,200 mechanised fishing boats operate in Andhra Pradesh. Of this, more than 30 percent will commence voyage from midnight and the remaining will start over the next 10-15 days, said PC Appa Rao, president, AP Mechanised Fishing Boat Operators Welfare Association.

Since mechanised boats would get subsidised diesel at Rs 6.03 per litre from June 15, most would start operations only after that. Each mechanised boat requires about 4,000 litre of diesel for 10-12-day voyage. Subsidised diesel helps a boat operator save about Rs 24,000 on each voyage.

This season, a boat operator has invested Rs 300,000-350,000 by way of repairs, purchase of new nets and ropes, ration for staff, diesel and ice. Of the 2,200 mechanised boats, 650 operate from Visakhapatnam fishing harbour, about 630 from Kakinada and the remaining from Machilipatnam and Nizampatnam harbours, Rao, said.

The state government is expecting Rs 1,800-2,000 crore worth of marine, both shrimp and fish, production during this season through these mechanised boats on the back of good monsoon and the long ban period.