Indian Coast Guard has informed the Kerala High Court that central government has withdrawn its 2014 decision that allowed foreign deep sea trawlers to operate in Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the country. India’s EEZ extends to 200 nautical miles (around 370 kilometres) from coastal line. The submission was in the form of a counter affidavit filed in response to a MK Salim of Kollam seeking a court-monitored probe by a special team comprising of officials of Enforcement Directorate, CBI, NIA, and Central Vigilance Commission into illegal looting of the country’s marine wealth by the foreign vessels. “Ministry of Agriculture 2nd respondent issued an order dated 30th January 2017 revoking the guidelines for operations of deep sea fishing vessels in Indian EEZ promulgated vide order No. 21002/12/2011-FY(IND) dated 12 November 2014,” Coast Guard’s affidavit stated. It was alleged by the petitioner that while the deep sea trawlers had been operating since 1997 on the basis of letter of permits (LOPs) issued by the union government, no documents are available with the government, RBI, Fisheries Survey of India, or Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) regarding the quantity of fishing done by the foreign trawlers. This has resulted in no currency earnings to the nation either in foreign exchange or Indian Rupees and reveals a loss of billions in foreign currency earnings to the nation, the petition had stated. Through the affidavit, Coast Guard said it would take strict legal action as per law if they found any violations by deep sea fishing vessels in Indian EEZ. Such vessels are required to inform their locations periodically and also at the time of any transhipments as per law. Ships and aircrafts operated by Coast Guard conducts physical verifications of these vessels, the court was told. Coast Guard’s response followed an interim order by a division bench of the court expressing displeasure at the agency and Reserve Bank of India for not responding to the petition despite repeated directives by the bench. “The issue in hand, as indicated through the earlier order, is of critical importance, not only in the financial sector, but also in matters relating to security of State in the high sea territories,” the latest interim order by the court had said.