Strict enforcement of law by Fisheries department irks fishermen in Rameswaram; over 400 boats identified for violations, 5,000 fishermen stay away from fishing

RAMESWARAM

Implementing the law as per the Fisheries Act has led to many fishermen in Ramanathapuram to stay away from fishing.

As a result, normal life of the fishermen was hit for the second day on Saturday.

Following complaints about three months ago that some mechanised boat fishermen had allegedly used banned fish nets (purse seine) and that they did not display the registration numbers properly on their boats, among other violations, the officials issued notices to about 400 boat owners instructing them to adhere to the rules.

On December 28, two teams of officials conducted inspections at the jetty and found that around 80 boats had still not complied with the guidelines.

Hence, they were not issued tokens since Monday. When the news spread, the association office-bearers led by Jesu Raja staged a demonstration in front of the Fisheries office on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters, he said that the officials had been humiliating the fishermen under the pretext of checks and non-compliance of the laws. Denying that there were any violations, he claimed that some fisherfolks gave false information about them and wanted the officials to dismiss them as rumours and baseless charges.

However, Deputy Director (Fisheries) Kathavarayan told reporters that the officials had given adequate time and notice to the fishermen to set right the flaws. The government had categorically announced that use of banned fish nets would not be allowed at any cost.