With the last date for registration of fishing boats looming near, the office of the Marine wing with the Fisheries Department is witnessing heavy rush these days. According to the Fisheries Department officials, majority of the boats will complete the registration procedure before October 15, the last date for the registration.Fisheries Assistant Director, S I Rajeev said there is a good response from boat owners as most of them are registering their vessels. Till now we have registered around 120 vessels at Vypeen. Around 100 more vessels have to be registered. There is rush these days as several boat owners are coming in for the process, he said. Recently, the Marine Enforcement Wing had intercepted a number of boats operating without valid registration and fishing licenses. In one week around 4 vessels were impounded in the Vypeen Fisheries Station. Mostly the newly manufactured boats and second-hand boats purchased recently are plying without registration. Last day, we had intercepted a vessel that was just launched. We are conducting awareness programs at harbours about the importance of boat registration. There is a good response from the part of boat owners, said K J Shibu Kumar, Inspector, Marine Enforcement Wing. The Marine Enforcement Wing also has found several vessels from other states are fishing in the Kerala coast and using the harbours without paying user fees. For netting fishes off Kerala coast and using the harbours in the state, the vessels from other states have to pay user fees every year. Some of the boats from other states do not pay this fees. During checks we ask for the fishing license and user fees receipts, he said. Last day the Marine Enforcement Wing intercepted a boat operating without registration and fishing license. Another boat named Sultan was intercepted for operating without renewing the fishing license. As far as fishing license is concerned, in Kerala it has to be renewed annually. But in the other states, the duration differs. In Tamil Nadu, the fishing license is valid for 3 years,he said.