A Perspective on Vizag
Demands scrapping of proposed Coastal Fisheries Regulation Act
Fishing Harbor, February 26, 2010
The fishing harbour situated next to the container wore a deserted look as all the boats stay put in their place as a mark of protest by the boat owners and fishing community against the proposed Coastal Fisheries Regulation Management Act, 2009. The fishermen also staged a protest by sitting in front of the Collectorate, demanding the law not be tabled in the Parliament in the current session. The protesters, under the aegis of all the fishermen association besides that of the Country boat Owners Association and the Mechanized Boats and Trawlers Association took out a protest march from the fishing harbour to the Collectorate where they raised slogans demanding scrapping of the proposed Act.
Speaking to media persons, the general secretary of Visakha Dolphin Boat Operators Welfare Association, Ch Satyanarayana Murty said the provisions of the proposed Act such as not allowing anybody without a licence to fish over a limit of 12 nautical miles would effect their economic viability, while selling the opportunities into the hands of foreign fishing companies.
Satyanarayana Murty accused the Government of not being concerned of the plight of the fishermen in the country, whose livelihood, he argued would be devasted, if the proposed Act becomes a law. He further said, normally they need not go to a depth of more than 100 nautical miles to fish for Tuna, while the government wants them to limit themselves to within 12 nautical miles. He further alleged that the Union Government was playing into the hands of foreign players, who would be given the licenses much against the Murari committee recommendations in 1997 suggesting licenses to foreign players.
The Fishing industry has proposed a bundh for Thursday against a move that curtails them from fishing in Exclusive Economic Zone.