Tuna longliners to boost deep sea fishing in State

KENDRAPARA: In a bid to boost deep sea fishing, specialised vessels called ‘Tuna longliners’ will soon be introduced in the State. In the first phase, four such vessels will be given to fishermen to enable them to venture into deep sea. The government will provide loans to them and their societies to purchase the vessels, said deputy director of fisheries (marine) Basant Dash. 

The government has already allocated Rs 6 crore to the Fisheries department to purchase five ‘Tuna longliners’ under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Surakhya Yojana and tender has been floated for the purpose, he said. The cost of each such vessel is Rs 1.2 crore. However, it will be sold to the fishermen at a 40 per cent subsidy. The vessels are designed to enable fishermen to venture beyond 200 nautical miles in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to catch tuna fish. At present, fishermen in the state catch fish within 12 nautical miles known as territorial sea water. The reach of trawlers is within 25 nautical miles. 

Such fishing technique, which causes no ecological damage, is used across the globe including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka in India. As per report of Fishery Survey of India, around 2.92 lakh tonne tuna fish are present in EEZ of Odisha and the vessels will help fishermen get a good catch of the species. The vessels are equipped to remain in sea for more than one month.