The legality of the Centre’s new deep-sea fishing guidelines — restricting the size of vessels, insisting on letter of permission from the authorities for every fishing expedition and provision allowing foreign companies in fishing trade — have been challenged by a fishermen’s forum.
The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T S Sivagnanam on Monday ordered notices to the central and state governments on the PIL of Fishermen Care represented by its president LTA Peter Rayan.
The new guidelines restricts the overall length of fishing vessels from 20 metres to 15 metres, the PIL said, adding that this would adversely affect a large number of fishermen, as about 85% of about 72,000 available vessels are in the 20-metre category.
The guidelines say fishermen must obtain a letter of permission (LoP) from the department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries for operating any fishing vessel and it is required even for common fishing methods including the hook-and-line method, the PIL said, adding, “obtaining LoP from authorities and voyage clearance from the Indian Coast Guard for each fishing voyage is delirious, cumbersome and impracticable.”
Cautioning that entry of foreign enterprises into India would deprive traditional fishermen of their occupation and livelihood, Rayan said in his PIL that it was a farce to conclude that Indian fishing industry is not equipped with necessary resources to exploit the resources or engage in deep-sea fishing. The PIL said the guidelines had been issued without studying their adverse implications on the operation of deep-sea fishing vessels and socio-economic conditions of traditional and small-scale mechanized sector.
Referring to a report compiled in 1996 by a committee headed by P Murari, the PIL said it contained 21 recommendations including financial assistance for upgradation of fishing vessels. Instead of implementing it, the present government is accepting the reports of B Meenakumari which has erroneously concluded that inshore fishing resources have been overexploited whereas offshore and deep-sea resources are yet to be tapped to their optimal level.
The guidelines have ignored life and livelihood of fisherfolk, the PIL said, seeking a direction to the central government to implement the recommendations of the report submitted by P Murari committee, which was accepted by the cabinet committee on economic affairs.
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