A section of mechanised boat and country craft fishermen in India on Monday staged a walk out at the stake holders meeting on the draft national fisheries regulation bill convened by the Fisheries department here.
They alleged lack of clarification on the bill and that the provisions went against their interest.
The meeting, chaired by E. Kathavarayan, Deputy Director of Fisheries, began on a stormy note with a section of fishermen objecting to convening of the meeting without proper intimation to stake holders and circulation of the draft bill in Tamil. And when they found that many of the clauses in the bill went against their interest, they staged a walkout, shouting slogans against the Centre for destroying their livelihood.
The draft bill suggested that fishermen, who went for fishing beyond 12 nautical miles, should be under the control of the Indian Coast Guard, which would not be agreeable to the fishermen. The fishermen would have to give up fishing if the provisions in the draft bill were implemented. They preferred to be governed under the existing Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation (amendment) Act, they added.
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