The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre what would happen to the small and traditional fishermen in the State of Tamil Nadu if “affluent” purse seine fishermen on mechanised boats are allowed to operate beyond the 12 nautical mile territorial waters and end up catching hundreds of tonnes of fish.
Tamil Nadu government said purse seine fishing kills fishing stock and is a danger to the environment, leaving traditional fishermen operating within the territorial waters on their catamarans with nothing.
The court is hearing a petition filed by Fishermen Care to stay a Tamil Nadu government order of February 17, 2020, which had banned the large nets used to catch schools of fish in the deep waters of the sea.
On Tuesday, purse seiners urged the court to devise an interim arrangement by which they could operate outside the 12-nautical mile threshold before the ongoing fishing season in the State came to an end.
The Centre, based on a report submitted by an expert committee, said purse seine fishing may be allowed beyond the 12 nautical mile limit and outside the State's coastal jurisdiction.
Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj, for the Union, said purse seine fishing could be allowed outside 12 nautical miles from the Tamil Nadu coast for 15 days in a given month except during the 60-day uniform fishing ban period. The mechanised boats of purse seiners could be fitted with transponders and automatic identity systems to zero in on their location. Log books could be maintained on their movements.
“But who will monitor them? The State’s concern cannot be overlooked because there are smaller fishermen with trawlers doing the coastal waters. If larger fishermen operating beyond the 12 nautical miles take all the catch, what would happen to these smaller fishermen? Is it not a concern of the Centre to go into all this and take a decision?” Justice A.S. Bopanna, leading the Bench, asked Mr. Nataraj.
Mr. Nataraj said a national comprehensive plan would be drawn on purse seine fishing and regulations in six months.
However, the court pointed out that the need was now and not after six months. It directed the Union to file an affidavit on how purse seine fishing is regulated in other States so that an interim arrangement could be made for purse seine fishing in Tamil Nadu beyond the 12 nautical miles. The court listed the case for next Tuesday.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and advocate D. Kumanan, for Tamil Nadu, said the Supreme Court cannot give permission for use of purse seine nets even beyond 12 nautical miles. There was no mechanism to monitor these fishermen.
“A purse seine net is three times bigger than a football field. It acts like a shovel and drags up all aquatic life, even endangered species, from the sea. An affluent purse seine fisherman gets the catch of, to say the least, a 1000 traditional fisherman. They get 92% of the entire catch. They destroy the fish sticks by killing juvenile fish,” Mr. Rohatgi submitted.
He referred to a 1993 decision of the Supreme Court in the State of Kerala versus Joseph Antony, upholding the ban on purse seine fishing beyond the territorial waters as it affected the livelihood of traditional fishermen.
Senior advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan and V. Giri, for the petitioners, countered that 17 lakh fishermen use purse seine nets. They were not “affluent” but small fishermen who had worked their way up the pecking order in the fishing community. Mr. Sankaranarayanan said purse seine fishing was introduced in 1954. Technology has changed since the 1993 decision, 30 years ago. Technology existed to monitor fishermen and keep a check on whether they operate beyond the 12 nautical mile limit.
“But to reach the 12 nautical mile limit, we have to cross through the restricted waters. We cannot go in helicopters and [be] dropped outside the 12 nautical mile limit. The court has to give us some sort of protection,” Mr. Sankaranarayanan argued.
Mr. Giri said the State did not have any jurisdiction outside the nautical limit of its territorial waters and cannot restrict them from fishing there.
“The fishing season for south Tamil Nadu started two weeks ago and will go on for another four weeks. The season for north Tamil Nadu will start in two weeks. This time is crucial,” Mr. Sankaranarayanan said.
