Speaking to the warring fishermen groups at a joint meeting with them on Wednesday evening, Animal Husbandry Minister Seediri Appalaraju urged the members not to take law and order into their hands and to refrain from giving a political colour to the ring nets issue.
“Visakhapatnam is known for its peaceful nature and incidents such as the one that happened on Tuesday will tarnish its image,” the Minister said.
Mr. Appalaraju said that the use of ring nets is not a local issue, but an issue that is prevalent all the way from Srikakulam to Nellore. This issue can be sorted out only through constructive talks.
He clarified that as per the court orders and the government ban, fishermen using ring nets can fish only outside the reserve zone of eight km from the coast.
Most importantly, as per the Marine Fisheries Regulation Act, all fishermen should obtain licences to conduct fishing with specific nets.
As per the order, traditional fishermen with non-motorised boats and beach landing craft will be allowed to fish in the reserve zone and all fishermen with motorised or mechanised boats will have to fish outside the reserve zone.
He added that boats with ring nets should immediately obtain a licence and fix the transponders.
Regarding the fixing of fishing boundaries, he urged the fishing communities to settle the boundaries by arriving at an amicable solution through talks with the help of village elders.
Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao asked the Collector and the police officials to review the law and order situation on a daily basis for the next few days.
