The recent notification of the Fisheries Department banning LED lights has come under criticism from the Purse Seine Boat Owners’ Development Society. We are sad that the government issued this notification and are shocked by the Chief Minister and Fisheries Minister, given our recent meetings and discussions with them; they had supported us well in the past, said Minguel Rodrigues, Society chairman. He continued, We had presented the government with studies and the latest information by top scientists of India, where light has been endorsed as the only way of fishing and where environmental destruction is less. Almost all of the developed countries are using these lights. We want the government to read the reports we gave them in detail and come out with a clear-cut policy. The purse seiners’ society feels that the government should have come out with a fishing policy based on scientific reasoning. The traditional and mechanized fishermen are misguided. We had even requested the Fisheries Minister to bring us to the same table to sort out our differences. We will still request him to do the same, said Minguel. When asked to comment on the demand that their trawlers remove the LED lights, Minguel said that they would soon have a meeting to discuss the issue.
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