The two-month ban on fishing in the sea has come as a boon for cultivators of freshwater fish in the district. Plying of trawlers and mechanised boats have been banned from entering into the sea from April 15 to June 15 for unhindered breeding of fish. The pisciculture products are turning out to be money spinners for fish farmers as well as vendors. Their prices have increased between 30 per cent and 100 per cent in the last week in Kendrapara, Pattamundai, Rajnagar, Patkura and Mahakalapada. Pomfret, which normally sells at `250 per kg, is being sold at `400 a kg. Prices of other common fish varieties also soared, with Kani’ fish being sold at `250 per kg from the earlier price of `150. The price rise is expected during this time of the year because of fewer fishing activities due to ban, said Nityananda Mandal (45), a fish vendor of Mahakalapada. At the moment, since fish supply is limited we have no role to play in the price hike, said Sarat Behera, a fish vendor of Kendrapara. Some big vendors, who have cold storage facilities, are minting money, he added. The ban extends to 12 nautical miles off the Odisha coast and applies to all kinds of trawlers and mechanised boat operators. Small non-mechanised boats measuring less than 8.5 metres, which use nets with big gaps, are exempted from the ban. The traditional fishermen are permitted to carry out fishing only in the territorial waters and catch only pelagic fish, said Biraja Prassana Mohapatra, Additional Fisheries Officer (Marine) of Kujang. The ban period is imposed during the breeding season of the fish and is enforced to conserve the species. It will save the mother fishes as well as the young ones, thus avoiding depletion of fishes, the fishery officer added.
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