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Tamil Nadu
By S. Shanker
Experts say the island nation's effort at mechanising the small-scale fisheries sector from the early 1960s has paid dividends. Exploitation of deep-sea marine resources by the multiday craft resulted in fish landings reaching 76,500 tonnes in 1999 from 8,155 tonnes in 1989 — a nine-fold increase in 10 years. More importantly, the fishermen too have managed to mop up higher revenue. The Bay of Bengal Programme coordinator, Y.S. Yadava, says the island has registered a five-fold increase in tuna landings over the last few years. The traditional fishing craft of the 1950s have given way to multiday boats — varying from 35 to 55 feet in length, with `inboard' motors with engine power ranging from 30 to 120 hp. The hold size and the `endurance level' of the fishing boats increased. The 40-footers and larger vessels, carrying over 20,000 litres of fuel, are known to cruise for three months at a stretch on the high seas. Keeping pace with mechanisation, the fishing gear has also undergone change. The traditional hemp and cotton nets gave way to large-sized nylon gill nets (mono and multifilament), which subsequently became popular with the fishermen. The `long line', single and multihooks also gained widespread acceptability. The boatmen have also gone in for communication equipment, such as satellite navigators. Sixtysix per cent of the medium-sized vessels (32 to 35 footers) have radiophones, while the rest have radio communication facilities. Almost all skippers of the 40-foot category can read maps and charts, says the former Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department Joint Director and FAO consultant, P.V. Ramamurthi. At a recent fishworkers conference in Chennai, a Sri Lankan representative said the 35-footers operated within the EEZ and the larger boats frequented international waters and the territorial waters of the Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Bangladesh, Thailand and Madagascar. Some boats were also known to head for Australia. Experts feel it is time that the Tamil Nadu fishermen understood the pressure on near-shore waters, which have been depleted due to sustained overfishing during the last two decades. Fishing grounds off Andhra Pradesh are not freely accessible anymore, as Nellore fishermen are against the Chennai boats operating close to their shore. A couple of weeks ago, a section of Kerala fishermen demonstrated against Tamil Nadu vessels fishing off Kochi. On the positive side, the State fisheries sector does not lag behind in mechanisation. It is only the communication equipment and fishing gear which have to be upgraded. Interestingly, some of the Chennai fishermen, who took to deep-sea fishing recently have reported lucrative catches.
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