The K.A. Sairabanu committee has proposed that all fishermen in the south Indian State of Kerala undergo a sea safety and navigation course for three days. All fishing vessels should also have radio communication facilities. The committee also wanted the mesh size of nets to be regulated.
The committee, constituted to study the impact of trawling ban along Kerala coast, mooted 66 proposals for shoring up the fisheries wealth of the state and for improving the safety of fishermen.
All fishermen could be tutored in safety practices in two years and this should be marked in their identity cards. The drivers should undergo a more detailed 10-day course on navigation and other mechanical skills, the report by the panel submitted to said Fisheries Minister, K. Babu.
The rule that mechanized fishing vessels should be driven only by certified driver should be made a mandatory requirement within the next five years, it suggested. All fishing vessels capable of carrying out operations, outside the 12 nautical mile zone, should possess not only VHF, but also radio telephone facility.
The State Government should take initiative to hold a dialogue with Union Communications Ministry to get this facility at subsidized rate.
Likewise the mesh size of the fishing nets should be regulated between 33 mm and 152 mm. Mesh size for sardine/mackerel ring seines may be regulated at 22 mm or more and the mesh size for anchovy ring seines at 12 mm or more.
Cod end mesh of 35 mm has been prescribed for trawl net in Kerala Marine Fisheries Regulation Act and this should be changed to 35 square meshes as studies showed that the latter provides better opportunity for juveniles to escape.