deep sea fishing and marine conservation
Deep sea fishing has been an integral part of the country’s Blue Revolution vision to exploit fishing resources to the maximum within the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). One day workshop was organized on Deep sea fishing with an aim to promote deep sea fishing as an alternative to trawling in the Palk Bay.
Deep sea fishing has been an integral part of the country’s Blue Revolution vision to exploit fishing resources to the maximum within the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). One day workshop was organized on Deep sea fishing with an aim to promote deep sea fishing as an alternative to trawling in the Palk Bay.
What is the issue with Bottom trawling?
Bottom trawling, an ecologically destructive practice, involves trawlers dragging weighted nets along the sea-floor, causing great depletion of aquatic resources. Bottom trawling captures juvenile fish, thus exhausting the ocean’s resources and affecting marine conservation efforts. This practice was started by Tamil Nadu fishermen in Palk Bay and actively pursued at the peak of the civil war in Sri Lanka.
The Palk Bay fishing conflict has figured prominently in high-level meetings between India and Sri Lanka. The Joint Working Group on Fisheries was formed by the two countries in November, 2016 to discuss the prolonged issue. But Sri Lankan fishermen wanted an immediate end to incursions by Indian trawlers, which resulted into amendment to the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act by Sri Lankan parliament. Also its navy has been vigilantly patrolling the International Maritime Boundary Line, ‘capturing’ Indian trawl boats and fishers.deep sea fishing and marine conservation