Boat owners do not keep records of workers who go out to the sea for fishing. As per the instructions given by the fisheries department, logbooks containing details of who and how many fishermen venture into sea should be kept in the boats as well as in the hands of owners.
Keeping a logbook will help with having accurate records of boats coming and going. But authorities said that the boat owners are not interested in maintaining this.
The boat owners claim that the people who go on the boat change every day and it is not possible to keep records, despite the fisheries department and the coastal police recommending the same. It is also compulsory for boat workers to carry Aadhar cards. V Suneer, Assistant director of fisheries, Beypore, said that only a few workers comply with this.
About 75 percent of the workers employed in boats in the state now are from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Bengal. If the boat goes to sea without the required documents and meets with accident, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify the victims.
Such an instance occurred a few days ago in Beypore when an owner could not identify the worker on his boat that was involved in an accident. Owners said that as boats go out to sea in the morning, it is not possible to know who and how many people were on it.
Regular inspections are being carried out at sea and the harbours. Coastal police AIG G Poonkuzhali said that if undocumented boats or fishermen are found, they are handed over to the fisheries department.