61-day annual marine fishing ban to come into effect from June 1

61-day annual marine fishing ban to come into effect from June 1

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, May 21, 2025: Considering the declining marine fish stocks, a 61-day annual marine fishing ban will take effect in the coastal belt from June 1 to July 31.

Accordingly, mechanised boats and traditional boats fitted with inboard or outboard engines of 10 HP and above are banned from fishing activities. However, fishing boats fitted with engines of up to 10 HP will be allowed to fish during the period.

The Joint Director of Fisheries said in a release on Tuesday that fishermen who flout the government order will not receive a diesel subsidy for a year and will be subject to penal provisions under the Karnataka Marine Fishing (Regulation) Act, 1986.

The main objective of banning deep-sea fishing is to protect fish wealth, as commercially important species breed during this period. It is also used to prevent juvenile fishing and excessive fishing.

Meanwhile, stressing the need to extend the two-month ban on fishing during the fish breeding season to three months (till August), D. Siddaiah, Joint Director, Department of Fisheries, Dakshina Kannada, told a meeting in Mangaluru recently that there should be uniformity in the ban across the West coast. All States on the West Coast should arrive at a consensus to impose the three-month ban (from June to August). Extending the ban for one more month will help in boosting fish production, he said.

The Joint Director said that the marine fish catch in Dakshina Kannada dropped by 28.04 % in the last financial year. The catch came down to 1.72 lakh tonnes in 2024-25 from 2.39 lakh tonnes during 2023-24, he told the meeting presided over by Dinesh Gundu Rao, the Minister in charge of Dakshina Kannada.

Stakeholders in the fisheries sector attribute the fall in catch to various factors, including the rise in temperature, illegal fishing using lights, over (excessive) fishing, and bull trawling.

According to the State Department of Fisheries, total fish production in Karnataka fell to 9.75 lakh tonnes in 2023-24 from 12.24 lakh tonnes in 2022-23. Marine fish production also dropped to 5.42 lakh tonnes from 7.30 lakh tonnes during the same period.

Meanwhile, a report ‘Rapid Assessment of Blue Economy Potential in Karnataka’ prepared by the College of Fisheries, Mangaluru in 2021, when A. Senthil Vel was the dean of the college, said the marine fisheries sector witnessed acute unsustainability, unrestrained increase in fishing vessels and rampant use of destructive fishing methods in the past decade. In addition, the report said that unwavering demand from the fish meal industry has also led to a decline in commercially important fish stocks and adverse impacts on the livelihoods of fishermen.