The Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare has begun a physical verification drive of mechanised boats at the two fishing harbours at Thengaithittu and Uppalam. In a press note, A. Mohamad Ismail, Director of Fisheries, said the exercise follows an instruction from the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, to all the coastal States / U.T.s to complete physical verification of fishing vessels during the 2024 fishing ban period and to update the registry with ReALCRaft (Registration and Licensing of Fishing Craft) portal data accordingly. Further, it was directed to submit status and action taken report in this regard to the Ministry, he said.
As part of the drive, the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, carried out the annual physical verification of all the mechanised fishing boats, including Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) gill netters, berthed at the Thengaithittu and Uppalam harbours. A seven-member team led by Mr. Ismail and G. Rajendiran, Deputy Director of Fisheries (Mechanisation), had been constituted to carry out the inspection with the assistance of Puducherry Fishing Harbour Mechanised Boat Owner Welfare Association.
During the exercise, registered boat owners submitted their documents for verification. With respect to the registered fishing boats not produced before physical verification, a separate enquiry will be made on such boats, and their registration will be continued or deleted based upon the enquiry report.
Similar physical verification exercises will be launched in the outlying regions of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam in the Union Territory, the Director said. According to ReAL data, 5,653 Registration Certificates and 1,337 Fishing Licence Certificates require to be updated in the UnionTerritory.