Thoothukudi fishermen demand 24-hour fishing operations

CHENNAI: Fishermen relying on mechanised bats in Thoothukudi protested on Monday demanding day and night fishing, which has been a long-pending demand.

The fishing harbour, which has a fleet of 264 mechanised boats, wore a deserted look after the boats turned immobile.

RJ Bosco, secretary, Thoothukudi Mechanised Boat Owners Association, said a committee formed last year by the district administration recommended allowing mechanized boats fishermen to sail day and night north off Thoothukudi coast on alternate days.

“If the recommendations were implemented, it would encourage the fishing fleet to sail farther to boost their catches. But still, such recommendations are not acted upon and currently fishing is on from dawn to dusk as usual,” he said.

M Tharmapichai, a mechanised boat fisherman, said among 14 coastal districts from Tiruvallur in the north to Kanniyakumari in the south, Thoothukudi is the only coastal district, where fishing time restrictions remain in place.

Unlike other coastal districts, the mechanised boats are allowed to fish from 5 am to 9 pm.

“Nowadays, fishing is ruinously expensive because the cost of diesel has been spiralling upward. A boat consumes about 600 to 700 litres of diesel for a day’s fishing at sea and only when the fish catch is worth Rs 2 lakh, the fishermen could get something to survive,” he said, adding that the fishermen had already met Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Thoothukudi MP and P Geetha Jeevan, Social Welfare Minister on several occasions pressing the need for day and night fishing at sea.

The fishermen were told that they would get a permanent solution to their demands after the Lok Sabha elections, but still, the demands have not been met.

Moreover, he said the government seems to be most concerned about the country-craft fishermen, who are in large numbers for vote bank politics, but not in the interest of those relying on mechanised boats. The entire district has more than 5,000 country boats.