The Kerala government will exert pressure on the Centre for a greater say in the administration, regulation and management of marine fisheries resources. A meeting of State fisheries ministers convened by the Union Ministry of Agriculture on Friday is slated to discuss the draft national policy on marine fisheries that was formulated after several rounds of discussions with stakeholders. The State Government has deputed Principal Secretary, Fisheries, James Varghese to attend the meeting. Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma said Kerala would press for decentralised management of fisheries, a nation-wide ban on juvenile fishing and a freeze on the Letter of Permit scheme that allows foreign trawlers to operate in Indian waters. The State is also seeking extension of its territorial rights from 12 to 36 nautical miles and licensing rights for wireless equipment to be installed in fishing vessels. Most of the suggestions submitted by the State have not been taken into account in the draft policy, she said. Meanwhile, official sources said three major provisions in the draft policy were reportedly removed after the document was published online. Concurrent list These include the proposal to bring fisheries into the concurrent list, create a separate ministry for fisheries and prescribe minimum standards for fishing vessels. Based on a long-standing demand from maritime States, the proposal to include fisheries in the concurrent list was finalised after several rounds of consultations with stakeholders. Currently, the territorial zone extending up to 12 nautical miles from the coast comes under the State list while the fishing zone from 12 to 200 nautical miles is administered by the Centre, often leading to jurisdictional conflict on many issues. Separate ministry The idea of a separate fisheries ministry was conceived to ensure better focus and management of the sector that involves the livelihood of a large segment of the population. Currently, the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DADF) comes under the Agriculture ministry. Standardisation of fishing vessels has also been a long-pending demand by fishers. The Minister said Kerala would resist any move to dilute key provisions in the draft policy that would affect the traditional sector.
2016, The Hindu