Malpe: Self Imposed Ban on Fishing by Boat Owners

By Subhas Marne
Bellevision Media Network

Malpe, 26 May 2011: Do not know whether to call this a wise move by the Boat owners or a foolish move. While there is high price for fish in the market, majority of the Malpe Boat owners have stopped fishing and anchored their Boats at the Port and thus themselves loosing lakhs of rupees!.

 

Malpe an all season fishing port is filled with the motor boats since two days. Already in Malpe 1st stage and 2nd stage pots together have a capacity for parking 800 boats. But in Malpe there are more than 1,200 boats. Also there are Persian boats and small boats about more than 500.  All these will have to be parked in the 2nd stage port during rainy season.

 

Every year during the rainy season from 15th June to 10th August total 57 days the boats are banned from fishing. During this time the fishermen anchor their boats in the port and carryout the repairs and maintenance work and also the repairs of their nets. But, since there is only place for 800 boats, more than 400 boats will have to stay outside in the sea, which is very risky too.

 

 

 

 

 

For this reason the boat owners have made the wise decision to anchor their boats in advance, even though they loose 1 – 2 lakhs of rupees during these days, they could occupy the place and park their boat which costs 25 – 30 lakhs, before the port gets filled with other boats. Though the government ban on fishing is not yet implemented they have self imposed the ban and anchored their boats. Hence the fishing is reduced 2 weeks before the normal ban on fishing.

 

With this the fish business in Malpe port has reduced by 20 – 35 lakhs per day. With these 2 week early reduction of fishing will totally loose crores of rupees loss to the fishing Industry. The fishermen those who depend on fishing alone had to forcibly take leave from fishing even if they are not in favour of this move.

 

The fishermen are not in favour of this policy. With the government ban on fishing during the rainy season the fishermen loose the income for two months every year. But in this year the boat owners have parked their boat one after the other and are loosing even more. Most of the boat owners have loans in the Banks. With this kind of loss how can they pay back the loans, if no fishing is done, then how the people who are depending only on fishing can survive? questions Naveen a young fisherman. Other fishermen also agree with him. But with the decision of the boat owners these fishermen are helpless.