State defies extended fishing ban, allows fishermen to operate till 15 June

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala went against the Centre's 61-day uniform fishing ban on Monday, which came into effect at midnight, as it decided to allow fishermen in the state to continue operating till 15 June, the conventional date for the beginning of the mandatory annual proscription.

Making it clear that the UDF government would not impose the embargo in its waters from Monday, Fisheries minister K Babu said that, as in previous years, it would be in force in Kerala for 47 days from 15 June to 31 July.

He also stated that traditional fishermen would be allowed to fish within up to 12 nautical miles in the territorial waters during this period.

Fishermen in Kerala are on the warpath against the NDA government's decision to extend the trawling ban from 47 days to 61 days to protect marine health and in keeping with certain provisions of the Meenakumari report on deep sea fishing in coastal areas.

Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee chairman V Dinakaran said fishermen have the right to fish in the territorial waters of the country. Instead of preventing them, the government should discourage foreign trawlers in Indian waters, he said.

All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators Association Secretary Joseph Xavier Kalappurakkal said their boats have already put out to sea and would return with the catch only by 14 June.

The Kerala Swathanthra Matsyathozhilali Federation and National Fish Workers Forum have also said that traditional fishermen would put out to sea in deep waters in their mechanised boats.

According to the federation, the right to fish within 200 nautical miles off the Indian coast rests with traditional fishermen and the government should not allow foreign vessels to fish in waters up to 12 nautical miles off the coast.

They also want the government to allow traditional fishermen to engage in fishing beyond 12 nautical miles. The Centre had issued a notification in April this year imposing uniform fishing ban for 61 days in the Exclusive Economic Zone from 1 June to 31 July.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi last week and discussed issues concerning fishermen, two days after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi criticised the Centre's decision to extend the trawling ban.

Chandy had also submitted a memorandum to Modi requesting that the Centre reconsider the notification imposing total fishing ban for 61 days and to limit the ban period to 47 days from 15 June to 31 July, as is the case every year. He had told the Prime Minister that a large section of the coastal population in Kerala depends solely on fishing.