Trawl fishing banned off Odisha coast for 2 months

KENDRAPARA:  The government has banned mechanised boats from fishing on the State coast from April 15 to June 15 to facilitate breeding of fish in the sea. Joint Director of Fisheries (Coastal) department Pabitra Behera said to avoid disturbances caused by trawl fishing during the breeding season, fishermen have been instructed not to venture into the sea during the ban period.

The ban extends to 12 nautical miles off Odisha coast and applies to all kinds of trawlers and mechanised boats beyond a length of 8.5 metre. The ban aims at conserving fish species during the monsoon, which is the spawning season for many varieties including the shrimp.

As many as 21,832 fishing vessels including 1,741 trawlers are registered with the Fishery department. During the ban period, mechanised vessels, which sweep the fish eggs and young ones, will not be allowed to venture into the sea. Small non-mechanised boats which are less than 8.5 metre long and use nets with big gaps, are exempted from the ban, Behera informed.

Traditional fishermen have been exempted from the ban. However, they are permitted to carry out fishing only in the territorial waters and catch only pelagic fish. Many fishermen welcomed the decision during the breeding period.

Jiban Rao, a fisherman of Kharinashi village, said during the two-month ‘fishing holiday’ every year, a large number of Telugu fishermen from Andhra Pradesh return to their native villages. However this year, they have decided to stay in the fishing villages of Kendrapara due to the prevailing Covid situation.

The monsoon trawling ban was introduced in 1998 to help unhindered breeding of fish during the rainy season in the sea. The monsoon period is the breeding season of nearly 300 species including the Hilsa fish along the coast of Odisha.