Govind D Belgaumkar/The Hindu

• ‘The tilt towards those who own mechanised boats should end’
• Fishermen get only 200 litres of kerosene a month
• Loans sought for 10,000 fishermen in three districts

Mangalore, May 31: If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) manifesto is to be believed, the new Government will come out with a comprehensive policy on fisheries. Can the fishermen in the districts of Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi hope to gain from it?

“It depends on whether you want to help 80 per cent of the fishermen who catch only 20 per cent of the fish or not,” said working president of Karnataka Karavali Sampradayika Nadadoni Meenugarara Okkoota (Federation of Traditional Fishermen’s Organisations of Coastal Karnataka) Upendra A. Hosbet.

He alleged that the Government had been, all along, more concerned about the fishermen with mechanised boats although they constituted only about 20 per cent of fishermen and bring to shore 80 per cent of the fish.

Most benefits accrue to rich fleet owners, who pay very little to their workers than owners of traditional boats, he said. He gave the example of how traditional fishermen got only about 200 litres of kerosene a month at subsidised rates while mechanised boat owners got about 150 litres a day.

Owners of mechanised boats said that they invested about Rs. 90,000 on each trip taking all the risks and incurring heavy losses many a time.

He and Vasudev Boloor, general secretary of Coastal Karnataka Fishermen Action Committee said the traditional fishermen with up to 25 HP outboard motors should be allowed to fish during the fishing ban (at present, the limit is 10 HP).

Mr. Hosbet said Kerala had extended this facility.

He said the proposed PCPIR (Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region) covering 300 sq km of area would adversely affect the interests of fishermen.

The Government would build dams to divert river waters for the industries and the reduced inflow into the sea was no good news for fishermen, he said.

He said the past experience, when a Minister in charge of the Fisheries Department hailing from the district, had hardly helped the fishermen, showed that the Government should choose a person who had genuine interest in the welfare of the community to head the portfolio.

The other nagging problems of the districts were, according to Mr. Boloor, failure to provide facilities such as power and drinking water in 15 fishing harbours, failure to prevent sea erosion, allowing foreign vessels in the deep seas off Indian coasts, and pollution from industries that discharged effluents into the sea.

He said the State Government had failed to get Centre’s approval for a Rs. 182-crore project to prevent sea erosion. The Government could ask for funds from the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank. Sea erosion affected families living close to the coast during rainy season.

Mr. Boloor said the Government should extend loans to 10,000 fisherwomen in the three districts to have any meaningful impact under the “Chaitanya” scheme that boosts their economy.

It should build at least 10,000 houses for them under the Matsyashraya scheme. At present, only a handful of them get the benefit and the Government’s welfare schemes which hardly improved their condition, he said. He welcomed the BJP’s intention to continue sales tax relaxation on diesel and the proposal to withdraw taxes on allied ice factories.

The BJP manifesto referred to supply of power at reduced rates to ice factories and cold storages that were helpful to the industry.