Ramanathapuram: Thousands of fishermen in Tamil Nadu on Monday held protests along the coast of all coastal districts who opposed the central fisheries bill.
Fishermen quote that many aspects of the bill pose a threat to fish as work.
“The bill must be dropped.
If the Union Government decides to pass, lakh fishermen throughout the country will unite and bear unlimited protests,” P Jesuraja, Secretary of all the mechanical society fishermen boats in the Ramanathapuram district, told TII.
Many fishermen in Rameswaram, from Gachimadam and Pamban in the district held a black flag and suffered protest at sea.
“Every time we fish only after getting tokens from the Department of Fisheries officials.
But the new bill says we have to pay for it.
It also says that we have to fish only in areas intended and within certain limits,” Jesuraja said.
Uncompatibility will produce an impressive fine of Rs 50,000 to RS 2 lakh and prisons are not less than six months.
“There is also a hat on the number of fish we have to catch,” Jesuraja said.
On the other hand, the bill also makes it mandatory for fishermen to register the net type they will use for certain fishing expeditions, unlike existing practices to carry various types of nets.
Fishermen say the type of net they use varies depending on various factors such as wind speed, water flow, availability of certain fish species and so on and that it is not possible to bring certain types of nets.
By stating that they produce several thousand crores rupees as foreign exchange every year and that they are unpaid state guards, they expressed disappointment over the bill.
The protesters accused that the bill was a direct offer to move the coastal population so that the rich coast of minerals could be submitted and exploited by the company’s giant.