If the huge mounds at Neendakara harbour is anything to go by, juvenile fishing remains a regular affair despite stringent rules against catching fish below minimum legal size. Hauled to shore by inboard engine boats using ring seine nets, this particular volume of their daily catch usually ends up in manure-manufacturing units outside Kerala. While motorised boats stay off waters during the trawling ban, these boats, kappal vallam’ in local parlance, cause considerable damage by trapping juvenile fish. In no other coastal State in India this practice is allowed during the breeding season, Peter Mathias, president, All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators Association, says. With the trawling ban in force, only non-motorised country boats and fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) boats are currently allowed into the sea. Yet, huge masses of juvenile fish are brought to the harbour since many boats do not use nets with legal mesh size. In ring seine nets, the mesh size is much smaller that makes it impossible for the juvenile fish to survive. June and July are the spawning season of fish like sardine and mackerel, and reckless juvenile fishing over the years has contributed to the vanishing of several fish species, he adds. Mr. Mathias says Kerala has over 38,000 registered boats, among which only 3,800 are motorised. That means more than 34,000 craft are currently operating within 12 nautical miles of territorial waters that includes nearly 700 inboard motor boats. If they do not allow this window for the fish stock to be replenished, there will be a steep decline in marine wealth, he says. If laws against juvenile fishing are not enforced, in can lead to irreparable consequences in long run, says V.K. Madhusoodan, a member of the environment committee of Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad. If our annual sardine catch had been over 3.5 lakh tonnes earlier, it dipped to just 45,000 tonnes in 2016. It has slightly improved now and there are many factors, including temperature, that affect fish population. When traditional fishermen can avoid juvenile fish, boats using nets with the wrong mesh size cannot help it. The government should at least make sure that the boats are using nets with the legal mesh size, he says. Threat to livelihood According to traditional fishermen, these boats catching juvenile fish to meet the demand of manure factories pose an enormous threat to their livelihood. We want the trawling ban to be extended to three months as conserving the marine wealth is of foremost importance to us. But if these boats are allowed, there is no point in implementing the ban as they exhaust the fish stock, says A. Andrews, district secretary, Kerala Swatantra Matsyathozhilali Federation. Mr. Andrews also alleges that none of the enforcing agencies are regulating this practice.