Fisheries Minister Anitha R. Radha Krishnan on Thursday said the State government had taken steps to improve the standards of fishing ports across the State. He said the Chief Minister had taken steps to protect the interests of fishermen and hence training had been imparted to fishermen so that they could repair their engine of their boats on the spot in case of breakdown.
They are being trained in safe fishing methods and the right way of using fishing nets,” he added while inaugurating a training session here on Thursday to train the mechanised boat fishermen on repairing the engine and the vessel.
He said fishermen were interested in keeping big boats and fishing in deep sea and the government had established standards for it. “Fishermen can enter the deep sea only if they have captains and mechanics. Our intention is to improve the fishing standards of our ordinary fishermen without any technical knowledge. Youth among our fishermen are working on ships and they are going to Mumbai for training. We will take steps to provide training for them in the State itself,” the Minister said.
On issue of expanding the Thoothukudi fishing harbour since there was lack of space for fishermen to berth their boats, the Minister said the Chief Minister would soon come out with a project for the expansion of the fishing harbour. The Chief Minister had also issued order for expansion of ports in Kanniyakumari district and Thaurvaikulam and there was a proposal to produce ice near the fishing harbour itself by roping in private operators.
The Minister said the 5% reservation in fisheries colleges had been increased to 20%. The week-long training will mould the fishermen, particularly the drivers on repairing the engines in case of breakdown.