Traditional marine fishermen communities along the Dhamra-Paradip coast are peeved over the governmental instructions asking them to bear the cost of remodel of their vessels to meet with the standard coastal security procedures.The remodeling work includes, among other things, the writing of data, registration number and colour coding of the fishing vessels. The vessel owners, as per State Marine Fisheries Department instructions, have to bear the cost of it. However, those eking out a livelihood by traditional sea fishing are in no mood to bear the additional cost burden.
The Nov. 1 to May 31 enforced seven-month-long prohibitory order on marine fishing has already enfeebled their income sources. The World Bank funded Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (ICZMP) to uplift their livelihood stakes has failed to yield the desired results. Marine fishermen giving vent to their anger felt that the additional fiscal burden of this nature is unwarranted and unjustifiable.
Meanwhile, the traditional marine fishermen have urged the State Marine Fisheries Department to bear the cost for writing data on their fishing boats and vessels.
“The measures are too much of taxing on them. The fishing prohibition has taken a heavy toll on their livelihood. The fish yield return has also diminished during seasonal fishing activity. So additional infrastructure cost has put serious financial burden on them”, quipped Mr. Tushar Kanti Sardar, Chief of local Traditional Marine Fishermen Association.
“As part of coastal security plan, the marine fishermen are now under scanner. To thwart possible sea route terror strike, now the marine fishermen are bound by a set of strict guidelines. They are law-bound to boldly display the licence number of the fishing vessel while on sea voyage. Besides, other information are to be put in place on the fishing vessel”, said Mr. Bhabani Shankar Mishra, Nodal Officer of Coastal Security Wing of State Police.
“The marine fishermen communities have been directed to display the registration number, date of registration and place of registration in bold letters on their boats. Now it has been mandatory for fishing voyage”, stated Mr. Subrat Das, Assistant Director of Marine Fisheries.
Like law-abiding citizens, the fishermen have paid regard to the directives and have made bold display of data entries on fishing boats as it would help in checking illegal infiltration, Mr. Sardar pointed out.
The Fisheries Department officials are not sure as to who would bear the cost of this writing. They say like the vehicle registration numbers they have to be written by the owners of the boats themselves. Leaders of traditional fishermen say the whole process would be a failure if the poor and ignorant fishermen would be asked to write the vital data on their own on the boats. It would also bring in disparity in the type of writing making it hard for their identification in the sea from a distance.
“The State Government should have to take up the job. It would lead to a uniform type of information writing which could serve the purpose in identifying the local origin boats. Further, it would ease the fiscal burden of hard-pressed sea fishermen communities”, Mr. Sardar concluded.
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