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The conference of fisheries Ministers of South Indian States has unanimously decided to implement in all the southern States the minimum legal size (MLS) measure recommended by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) to curb juvenile fishing.
Kerala has already implemented the MLS for 58 fish species to ban juvenile fishing. Now, other States have also come forward to implement the measure in their territorial waters to make the regulation more effective, said J Merchkutty Amma, the State Fisheries Minister.
Briefing the media on details of the conference, she said that it was decided to urge the Centre to reduce fuel prices and to waive road tax for the fuel for fishing. The meet arrived at a consensus demanding the Centre cede supremacy to States to provide fishing rights beyond the territorial waters of 12 nautical miles.
The conference took a decision to pressure the Union government to increase the unit cost of deep-sea fishing vessels from the existing ₹80 lakh to ₹1.5 crore. The conference also decided to seek the Centre’s technical and financial support on equipping fishermen for deep-sea fishing through cooperative societies.
Other States decided to follow the Kerala model to implement participatory fisheries management councils and to use trawl nets with the prescribed square mesh size recommended by the CIFT, the Minister said.
The other decisions in the two-day conference are: to urge the Centre to introduce financial safety plans to compensate fishermen for employment loss during the trawling ban period; to follow CIFT recommendations for on fishing boat designs and horse power of engines; to follow the Kerala model “Clean Sea” initiative to remove plastics from the sea; to request the Centre to issue a guideline after reviewing the scientific studies on a trawling ban for all the States; to jointly demand a separate fisheries ministry at the Centre and to implement a hatchery accreditation facility to ensure the quality of fish seeds.
Earlier, inaugurating the conference, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged the Centre to provide liberal assistance to boost deep-sea fishing by equipping traditional fishermen in their skills and capabilities.
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