47-day fishing holiday begins

Trawlers and mechanised boat operators on the entire east coast will observe fishing holiday for 47 days from today. There are about 30,000 mechanised boats and 80 trawlers engaged in fishing. Of this, about 90 per cent trawlers and 20 per cent mechanised boats operate from Andhra Pradesh.

The Centre, to conserve the fishing grounds in the seawaters, has declared fishing holiday for 47 days both on the east coast (April 15 to May 31) and the west coast (June 1 to July 15), said YGK Murthy, president, Association of Indian Fishery Industry (AIFI).

During the last fishing season, industry on the east coast lost heavily due to low catches as foreign vessels entered Indian waters. Besides, bad weather and frequent cyclone warnings further reduced fishing days by 60-70, he said.

 

In a good fishing season, a trawler gets 70-80 tonne shrimp while for a mechanised boat it it about 15 tonne shrimp and 50-60 tonne fish. However, last season, catches dropped over 50 percent .

The AIFI has urged the Centre not to allow foreign fishing vessels into Indian waters. They also want non-mechanised boats to come under fishing holiday. “There are about 150,000 such boats on the east coast that continue to operate even during the ban period,” said Murthy.