Bhubaneswar: In order to conserve the fish stock in the sea during the breeding season, a 61-day-long ban on fishing has been imposed in sea and estuaries along the eastern coast of the nation including the Odisha coast, starting Friday. The ban will be in force starting from April 15 to June 14.
“To avoid disturbances caused by trawlers during the breeding season, fishermen have been instructed not to venture into the sea during the ‘fishing ban’ period under Section 4 of the Odisha Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1982,” said Jagannath Rao, additional director of fisheries (ADF), Kujang.
The monsoon trawling ban was introduced in 1998 to help unhindered breeding of fish in the sea during the rains, Rao added.
“The fisheries department registered around 21,000 fishing vessels, including 2,000 trawlers in the state . During the fishing ban, all mechanised fishing vessels of the state, including 520 trawlers of Paradip fishing harbour will not be allowed to venture into sea. The ban extends to 12 nautical miles off the Odisha coast. Small, non-mechanised boats that are less than 8.5 metres long and use nets with big gaps, are exempted from the ban. The ban is enforced during the breeding season of the fish in order to conserve the fisheries resources. It will save both mother and young fish, preventing the depletion of fisheries resources,” Behera said.
Monsoon is the breeding season of nearly 300 species of fish, including the delectable hilsa along the Odisha coast. Traditional fishermen, however, have been exempted from the ban and are permitted to carry out fishing only in the territorial waters and are permitted to catch only pelagic fish, he added.
