The Kerala Government’s decision to collect user fee from fishing boats from neighbouring states for fishing in waters close to its coast has been resented by National Fish Workers Forum (NFF).According to the Kerala Government order dated Aug. 9, issued by the State Fishing and Ports Department, all fishing boats from neighbouring states engaged in fishing in Kerala coast should pay Rs. 15,000 as user fee to the State Government every three months or Rs. 60,000 a year.
According to Vasudeva Boloor, Secretary, NFF, this order is against the Fundamental Rights and against the Constitution. “Fishermen should have the freedom to fish anywhere and land the catch anywhere in the country. If the landing port levies a nominal fee it is acceptable. But user fee of Rs. 15,000 per quarter is unacceptable,” he said.
He recalled that when fishing boats land at Karwar Port or in Goa they charge a user fee of Rs. 500.
According to the order, if anybody does not pay, then the Government can seize the boat and recover cost of the user free from the catch. Fishermen (traditional boats) from Kerala come here and use our ports. Our fishermen go fishing in Kerala waters if the fish catch here is low.
The fishermen from here had also faced a piquant problem in the Ratnagiri region a few months ago, when the boats were seized by the Ratnagiri fishermen. “We went there and convinced them that beyond the State border of 12 nautical miles, there should be no objection from anybody for Indian fishermen to do deep sea fishing,” said Vasudeva.
In Mangalore, a large chunk of fishing boats explores the neighbouring coast in search of good catch. Majority of the boats here also employ Malayalee labourers in their boats.
This order has not only been resented by NFF, but a meeting organised by the Association of Deep Sea Going Artisanal Fishermen (ADSGAF) and the Kanyakumari District Fishermen Sangams Federation (KDFSF) in September first week also expressed concern over the Kerala Government order, saying that it would result in disunity among fish workers hailing from different parts of the Indian coast.
They were of the opinion that the Kerala Government should have initiated discussion with the neigbhouring states before taking such a decision.
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