Country boat owners in Thoothukudi district on Monday tied black flags to their vessels and did not go for fishing in protest against operation of unregistered mechanised boats which do not comply with marine fishing laws. Assistant Director of Fisheries Sivaramachandran said about 2,500 boats out of 4,500 in the district did not go out to sea. S.J. Gayes, president of a country boat owners association, said fishermen from 25 villages in the district with over 5,500 boats, including those awaiting registration, did not go for fishing. Collector Sandeep Nanduri said bank loans for boats that did not comply with the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1983, would be arranged. Some boats might have to change their engines to comply with the norms, and the overhaul would cost around Rs. 6 to 10 lakh, the Collector said. Provisional certificates would be given to nearly 60 large boats pending registration with the Marine Mercantile Department (MMD). Technical support had been sought from MMD for providing certification. Under the revised Act, a mechanised boat should not be longer than 24 metre, and engine power of over 240HP. Further, Mr. Nanduri said talks would be held with representatives of country boat owners to explain the situation. Rameswaram: Mechanised boat fishermen in Rameswaram have launched an indefinite strike from Monday, in protest against soaring prices of diesel and pressing a charter of demands, including compensation for damage caused to the boats detained in Sri Lanka. Led by fishermen leader N.J. Bose, leaders of various mechanised boat fishermen associations, who held an emergency meeting in Rameswaram, decided to refrain from venturing into the sea for fishing till their demands were met and stage a demonstration in front of the Rameswaram bus stand on September 7 to draw the attention of the Centre and State governments. In a resolution, they said fishing was no more remunerative after the steep increase in prices of diesel. Even after availing diesel at subsidised rates, they could not achieve break-even, leave alone make profits, they said and urged the governments to supply them diesel without any taxes. In another resolution, the fishermen said a magistrate court at Oor Kaval Thurai in Sri Lanka had, on August 28, ordered nationalisation’ of three boats confiscated by its navy. The Centre must take up the issue with Colombo and secure the release of the boats. Referring to the Lankan government’s reported order to release 168 of 187 boats confiscated by its navy and detained in ports there for the past few years, the fishermen said that not even 80 of them were worth salvaging. The government should help salvage the minimum damaged boats and provide compensation for other boats. The State government should secure compensation of Rs. 20 lakh per boat from the Centre and protect their livelihood, they said. The fishermen said they would stage an agitation in Delhi with the support of all fishermen associations in Tamil Nadu if the Centre failed to meet their demands even after the September -7 protest.