To prevent fishermen engaged in deep sea fishing from throwing plastic covers and other waste into the sea, the Fisheries Department has proposed to install waste bins in fishing boats.
In a meeting at the Fisheries Harbour here on Thursday, Deputy Director of Fisheries, Dakshina Kannada, Mahesh Kumar said that he had seen trawl boats disposing of plastic carry bags, sachets of masala and other waste into the sea. Old plastic fishing nets too were being thrown into the sea, he said.
Mr. Kumar said that such method of disposal was harming fish and other aquatic species in the sea. There have been instances of harm caused to turtles which ate abandoned plastic bags that appeared as jelly fish to them. It was important that fishermen help authorities in conserving turtles. Disposing of waste in the sea was affecting fish yield, he said.
“You fix waste bins in your boats. Empty them after returning to the fishing harbour,” Mr. Kumar told representatives of fishermen. Each boat on a two-week fishing venture generates about 100 kg waste. There were about 1,000 trawl boats in the fishing harbour, he said.
While agreeing with the proposal, a fishermen representative said that there was no proper system of waste disposal in the fishing harbour. Ashraf, a contractor assigned the task of clearing waste and regulating entry of vehicles into the harbour, said that he was already overburdened with disposing of waste in the harbour and would not like to be burdened further.
Mr. Kumar said that he would discuss with the officials of Mangaluru City Corporation and put in place a proper system of waste disposal before making installation of waste bins in boats mandatory.
The Deputy Director said that the State government wants trawl boats to use square cod-end nets which have a mesh size of 35 mm. The use of such nets will prevent small fish being caught in nets. As nets with 35 mm mesh size were not available in the market, the government will procure them for about 800 boats. Each boat will get ₹ 10,000 worth net and the government had earmarked ₹ 70 lakh for the purpose.
Mr. Kumar said that a system will be put in place shortly to know how many have gone fishing every day. Fishermen were asked to keep records related to personnel going fishing. They were also asked to have lifeguards, transponders and safety equipment on their boats.