As juvenile fishing for the fish meal fish oil (FMFO) industry is on the rise, the Fisheries department has strengthened enforcement measures under the Kerala Marine Fishing Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2017, to prevent the illegal practice.
Around 30 fishing vessels from the district were caught with juvenile catch this financial year while more than ₹13 lakh, including ₹2.54 lakh from auctioning the edible fish on the boats, was collected by the department. “All these are traditional boats and a good portion of the bycatch was small sardines and mackerels. If more than 25% of the total catch are juveniles, the boats will be fined,” said K. Suhair, Deputy Director, Fisheries department, here on Wednesday.
Since the trawl ban is in force, the authorities had found juvenile fishing rampant in many places, and the fishers have been using nets with smaller mesh size for the purpose. A major reason for the depletion of marine resources, capturing juveniles can cause serious consequences affecting biodiversity and the livelihood of fishers.
