The All India Deep Sea Fishers’ Association, has appealed to the Fisheries Minister of the south Indian state of Kerala to instruct fisheries officers to come to the Kochi fisheries harbour rather than the Vypeen harbour for inspection of distant-water fishing boats for renewal of registration.
In an appeal to the minister, the association put up a set of demands in view of the difficulties being faced by the more than 350 distant-water fishing boats that operate out of Kochi and now need to renew their licences. There are more than 600 such boats operating off the coast of Kerala and about half of them had completed the formalities, said association president Charles George on Monday.
Association secretary M. Majeed said the government must do away with its insistence that boats from Tamil Nadu carry licences from that State. The association leaders are also of the view that the arrears in registration fees for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 should be done away with because little or no fishing activity was allowed during the years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The deep sea fishing vessel owners also demanded that fines imposed on boats with painting damage and shortage of lifebuoys and jackets should be foregone by the government and that more time should be given to boats to renew their licences online.