Draft Guidelines for Regulation of Fishing

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• Need for the Draft Guidelines
• Draft Guidelines for Regulation of Fishing by Indian Flagged Fishing Vessels in the High Seas, 2022
• Concerns Regarding the Draft Guidelines
• Issues raised by the Kerala State Fisheries Coordination Committee
• The Government’s Argument
• Way Ahead

Why in News?

• The Union government had issued draft guidelines on high-seas fishing (fishing in international waters off India coast, beyond the 200 nautical mile jurisdiction) in 2022.
• The Kerala State Fisheries Coordination Committee is getting ready to launch a protest against what it called “anti-fisherman” guidelines for regulating fishing by Indian-flagged vessels on the high seas. 

Need for the Draft Guidelines of Fishing :

• The notification accepts that marine fisheries are the livelihood of 4 million people in the country, it stresses the need for regulation to avoid over-exploitation and ensure sustainable use of the resources.
• The guidelines are necessary as currently, a considerable number (900+) of Indian vessels are fishing in areas outside the Indian EEZ without any protection or security from the GoI.

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The Draft Guidelines for Regulation of Fishing by Indian Flagged Fishing Vessels in the High Seas, 2022:

• Any person engaging in deep sea fishing should obtain a valid permit from the issuing authority.
• The permit fee for boats more than 24m long is Rs 5 lakh while that of boats between 15m and 24m is Rs 1 lakh. The fee for boats between 12m to 15m is Rs 50,000.
• The licence issuing authority is the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the validity of the permit is two years.

Concerns Regarding the Draft Guidelines of Fishing :

• The regulations are issued as a guideline and not as part of the proposed Indian Marine Fisheries Regulation Act.
• The proposal to issue a permit to all Indian citizens for fishing on the high seas is also unacceptable.
• The licence fee is exorbitant and should be reduced by half so that it does not put a burden on the small-scale fishermen.
• Though the preamble talks highly about the small-scale fishers in India, the guideline goes on to support private players.

Issues raised by the Kerala State Fisheries Coordination Committee:

• The regulation will adversely affect around 650 small-scale deep sea fishing vessels operating from Kochi.
• Handing over the rights of high seas to monopolies would jeopardise the livelihoods of lakhs of traditional and small fishermen and work against the principles of sustainability.
• If the government goes ahead with this policy, there would be strong protests from fishermen’s unions and other stakeholders.

The Government’s Argument:

• The high seas resources are now being exploited by large vessels from countries like Japan, Korea, China, and the EU.
• These resources can be tapped effectively by Indian vessels with permits.

Way Ahead:

• The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries should cooperate with the fisheries department of respective maritime states for ease of issuing licences and conducting inspections.
• Formation of Regional Fisheries Management Organisation with neighbouring countries.
• Co-operatisation of the high seas fishing instead of corporatising the activities.
• The traditional fishermen want the government to support modernisation of the fishing fleet in existence and to bring them under a vessel monitoring system.

Q1) What is the exclusive economic zone (EEZ)?

It is an area of the ocean, generally extending 200 nautical miles (230 miles) beyond a nation’s territorial sea, within which a coastal nation has jurisdiction over both living and nonliving resources.

Q2) What is the Matsya Sampada Yojana?

It is a flagship scheme for focused and sustainable development of the fisheries sector in India. It will bring about the Blue Revolution by harnessing fisheries’ potential in a sustainable, responsible, inclusive and equitable manner.

Source: New high seas guidelines against our interests, say fishermen | DOF.gov.in