Following suspension of fishing operations by a large number of mechanised boats, ice production in Thoothukudi has dwindled. Since there is not much demand for ice bars, which are bought by mechanised boats engaged in deep sea fishing, the ice units remain shut, affecting workers depending on them for their livelihood. Over half the fleet from Thoothukudi fishing harbour has been barred from fishing since September 20. The Fisheries Department has enforced a month-long ban as a punitive measure against 163 erring boat operators who were found guilty of overstaying in the deep sea in violation of Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1983. S. Vijayan, a proprietor of an ice plant in Pudukottai here, said ice unit owners, workers and traders were waiting for the resumption of full-scale fishing. Despite his 250-bar capacity ice plant remaining idle, he has been paying wages to the workers so that they will not go away in search of other jobs. Shelton, owner of an ice plant with a production capacity of 400 bars in Pazhayakayal, said that of the 242 mechanised boats at the fishing harbour, only a few small vessels were venturing into the sea. Unlike other commodities, ice bars could not be stored for long. The ice bars would dissolve if kept unused for a long period. On a normal fishing day, a mechanised boat would carry 25 to 30 ice bars each weighing 50 kg, whereas a country boat carried 10 to 15 bars. Not only the proprietors and workers, but ice bar tenders, van drivers and ice crushers, who were relying indirectly on this industry, were hit. Another ice plant proprietor, Raj of Threspuram, said this industry had been reeling under GST impact, and the fishing ban had dealt another blow. R.J. Bosco, a mechanised boat owner, said the Thoothukudi Mechanised Fishing Boat Owners Association would move the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on October 3 for an amicable solution.