Conservation activists have welcomed the State government’s move to increase the number of days of trawl ban during the monsoon season, while the Kerala Boat Operators’ Association have said its members would meet on June 18 here to discuss the fallout of the ban coming into effect between June 9 midnight and July 31.
The State government’s intention is to move towards a 61-day ban and the stakeholders appear to have realised the need for resource conservation, said a conservation official here on Wednesday. Until this year, the monsoon trawl ban was effective between June 15 midnight and July 31. It is expected that the ban would be extended next year, the official said.
However, the boat operators claimed that even the scientific community was not fully convinced of the effects of the trawl ban. Joseph Xavier Kalapurakkal of the boat owners’ association said the Sairabanu committee had in 2014 recommended splitting the ban period into two phases for a total of 60 days. The boat operators will meet at the Government Guest House here to discuss the issues involved.
Mr. Kalapurakkal said pelagic fish species like oil sardines needed to be conserved during their spawning season and questioned the logic of high-calibre traditional boats engaging in fishing during the ban period. He said a total fishing ban was being resorted to by many States. These States allowed only boats with power up to 9.9 HP to fish during the period.
The boat operators said that Kerala fishers tended to lose out on shrimp catch during the monsoon owing to the ban on trawling. About 85% of the shrimp catch used to be during the monsoon but the catch has dwindled drastically after the trawling ban came into effect in the State, claimed Mr. Kalapurakkal. The fall in shrimp catch has also led to the closure of small processing plants along the State coast, he said.
Meanwhile, the State Fisheries Department has ordered all boats from outside Kerala to leave the coast before June 9.
All diesel bunkers near fishing harbours have been ordered to close down during the period.
Boats with inboard engines are allowed only one carrier boat when venturing out for fishing.