The Thanjavur District Mechanised Vessel Fishermen Association has called upon the Fisheries Department to ensure that the livelihood of local fishermen were not affected by the activities of fishermen of neighbouring coastal districts.
At a meeting held at Mallipattinam on Sunday, the association claimed that the livelihood of Thanjavur district fishermen was affected since the fishermen from neighbouring Nagapattinam and Karaikal areas used to catch fish in the sea off Thanjavur district coast using their speed vessels.
As they used to anchor in the area where the Thanjavur district fishermen used to catch fish for more than 24 hours, the local fishermen were not able to get sufficient catch and most of the time they used to return with a low catch or empty-handed.
Hence, the association urged the Fisheries Department to direct the neighbouring district fishermen to look for fish in their own area and not to trespass into neighbouring areas.
Stating that the country boat and mechanised vessel fishermen in Thanjavur district has entered into an agreement that the former would venture into the sea for four days in a week and the latter three days so that both of them could get a good catch, the association claimed that intrusion of neighbouring district fishermen into Thanjavur district sea had badly affected the catch.