An ongoing case in the Supreme Court of India, to decide whether the ban that several States have imposed on purse seine fishing is justified or not, has revealed the faultlines between small, marginal and large fishers, with the Centre and States also taking different sides on the issue.
Purse seine fishing, deployed widely on India’s western coasts, uses a large vertical net to surround dense shoals of pelagic or midwater fish in the open ocean, and then draws in the edges like tightening the cords of a drawstring purse. In some States, it is linked to concerns about the decreasing stock of small, pelagic shoaling fish such as sardines, mackerel, anchovies and trevally on the western coasts.
The scientific community argues that climatic conditions, including the El Nino phenomenon, are responsible for the declining catch of such fish in the last ten years. However, fishermen using traditional methods have placed the blame squarely on the rise of purse seine fishing, and fear a further fall in the availability of these small fish if the ban is lifted. They have also demanded that, as the Centre has supported the lifting of the ban, it should publish the expert committee report it has based its stance on.
A major concern is the dwindling availability of oil sardines, a favourite of Kerala fish eaters. In 2021, Kerala recorded a catch of just 3,297 tonnes of sardine, a sharp decrease from the haul of 3.9 lakh tonnes in 2012. While traditional fish workers blame purse seines as a reason for the decrease in sardines in Indian waters, those using big boats with purse seine fishing nets claim that it is simply a more scientific way to catch fish, particularly from the first layer of the sea.
Trade unions working among fish workers urged the Centre to release the expert committee report that it depended on to prepare its affidavit against the ban. “There is no one view among fish workers on this issue. It is for the government to take a decision on this. The Centre has not revealed the details of the expert committee on purse seine fishing yet,” said Trade Union Centre of India general secretary Charles George. “The concerns of the traditional fish workers should be addressed and it can be addressed only if the expert committee report is made available to the trade unions and State governments.” Noting that different States have different stances on the ban, he said that it was natural that fish workers, especially those who use traditional gear, would have problems with purse seine users.
S. Prabhakaran, working chairman of the National Association of Fishermen, said that his organisation has supported the lifting of the ban. “Rather than banning, the government should bring in certain regulations. Those who don’t use mechanised boats and use small boats should be allowed to operate within five nautical miles. But in the deep sea, it should be permitted to catch shoaling fishes using purse seines,” he said. “It is an internationally used scientific method. There should be sufficient debate. The community must be taught about this system. We are sure that a court verdict will help us in finding a solution,” he added.