The Central government is bringing out a policy to encourage group fishing by fishermen groups after cancelling permissions given to foreign fishing vessels to fish in India’s exclusive economic zone, said Praveen Puthran, Assistant Director-General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on Friday.
He was speaking after inaugurating a stakeholders’ meeting organised by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), a constituent of ICAR, here. Tamil Nadu was the first State to benefit. Its fishermen have formed groups to get the benefits of the scheme including subsidies to buy large vessels.
While it was being said marine fishing has reached saturation levels, there was still scope for controlled fishing. On the other hand, there was huge potential in cage fishing in marine environment for which the government was giving huge subsidies, Mr. Puthran said.
He felt value addition to fish catch and other marine produce would go a long way in doubling farming income, a pet plan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rules and regulations are framed for their own benefit so that the marine wealth lasts for generations. With enforcement on high seas was near impossible, fishermen should adopt self-regulation as to the size of the catch and other issues, he added.
Director, CMFRI, Kochi, Gopalakrishnan, said that based on the institute’s recommendations, the governments of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh have notified legal permissible size of fish species that could be caught. The Institute with 11 research centres across the country, was continuously working on improving the fishing sector, he said.
CMFRI Mangaluru unit head Pratibha Rohith, Karnataka Fish Development Corporation Managing Director M.L. Doddamani and others were present.
