Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (ANK)
Mangaluru, Jul 25: Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) M J Roopa inaugurated Marine Fisheries Improvement Project, organized by the India branch of Asian Fisheries Society at Hotel Ocean Pearl in the city on Thursday, July 25.
Addressing the gathering, M J Roopa said, "Fishing is a traditional profession of the coastal belt. The new project of improving marine fisheries is an interesting study. I urge the entire fishermen community to utilize the government schemes available for them.”
Dean of College of fisheries, Dr A Senthil Vel said, "There is decline of fishing in the coastal belt as the prevailing situation is quite gloomy. Eco system is degrading, which is major concern. We should stop Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing. It is hard to rejuvenate the fishing stock and the oceans are getting depleted of the fish wealth in a quick way.”
Director of fisheries, government of Karnataka, Ramakrishna said, "When the Suvarna Tribhuja incident occurred, we have taken all types of concrete measures for the safety of fishermen. We are even looking in to fulfilling the needs of fishermen and are also providing them the necessary gadgets to trace the fishermen, if they are in distress so that they can communicate if they need any kind of help.”
“We have certain regulations to stop the illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. The state of Kerala has always been very strong in implementing the marine fishing regulation act. Even the Karnataka fishing regulation act in Karnataka needs to be amended to stop the destructive methods of fishing and make these regulations very strong in our state,” added Ramakrishna.
AFSIB has initiated a project ‘Marine Fisheries Improvement Project’ to be operated along the west coast and south east coasts of India, in particular at major marine fishing centers in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat and also Union Territories of Puducherry, Daman and Diu. The project focuses on sustainable fishery, particularly of the small pelagic fishes which contribute more than 50% to the marine fish catch. This project aims at mainly sensitizing the coastal fisher folk and other stake holders on the need to follow the guidelines and regulations set by the respective State Governments for ensuring sustainability of the fishery resources through responsible and informed exploitation practices.
It also aims at sensitizing the fishermen against illegal and destructive fishing activities. This is the need of the hour as FAO has reported that world capture fisheries can collapse in the next three decades, if timely corrective measures are taken. Therefore, it is in everyone’s interest that our fisheries are responsibly exploited, taking care of the future needs of the society. Those who are associated with fish, one way or the other, must join hands to conserve and sustain small pelagic fishery.