Fishing activity along Kerala shores will be allowed to resume from August 5 subject to stringent conditions, given the worsened COVID-19 scenario.
The decision was taken at a video-conference convened by Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma on Thursday as the 52-day annual monsoon season trawling ban is ending on July 31 midnight.
Boats from containment zones also will be allowed to operate. For the time being, however, boats and crew from other States will not be allowed to enter Kerala harbours/fish landing centres or participate in fisheries-related activities in view of the COVID-19 situation.
Formal orders in this regard are expected to be out on Friday.
Fishermen from the State who venture out to sea from August 5 must adhere to stringent disease containment protocols, given the alarming extent of the spread of COVID-19 in the coastal areas. Boats will be allowed out to sea on alternate days under an odd-even scheme based on their registration numbers. They will not be allowed to dock at other harbours/landing centres.
Physical distancing norms and use of sanitiser and face masks will be strictly enforced. The crew strength in the boats will be regulated.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that harbour management societies and people's committees would determine the price of fish in harbours and landing centres respectively.
Transportation of the catch from the coastal areas, especially those in the COVID-19 containment zones, would be strictly regulated, Ms. Mercykutty Amma said. Fish unloaded in the landing centres within containment zones cannot be sold outside the zones. The ban on the auctioning of catch will continue. From the bigger harbours, the catch will be transported elsewhere in disinfected trucks under the supervision of Matsyafed.
Trade unions in the fisheries sector and representatives of boat owners attended the meeting. The annual trawling ban had come into effect on the midnight of June 9.
