Juvenile fishing rampant, Keralam fishers call for revision of minimum size

KOCHI: Amid an intensifying El Nino, which warms the sea surface water, adversely affecting the recruitment—process by which young wish survive early life stages—of small pelagic fish species, rampant juvenile fishing is posing a threat to the marine ecosystem along Kerala coast. Fishermen and scientists have demanded revision of minimum legal size to stop unregulated fishing activities which may lead to a depletion of fish stocks.

According to fishermen, there has been significant recruitment of juvenile sardine along the Keralam coast this year. However, both traditional fishermen and trawlers are catching the fish indiscriminately. Juvenile fish is being transported to fish meal factories, which are purchasing these at Rs 18-20 per kg. If these juveniles are provided four months time to attain maturity, the price will rise fourfold.

The death of two migrant workers in Beypore last week has triggered a debate on illegal fishing practices. The workers were shifting the catch from the store room of the boat when they fell unconscious after inhaling toxic gas, and later died at a hospital.

Federation of Fishing Boats and Fishery Industries of Kerala general secretary Joseph Xavier Kalapurackal, boats involved in juvenile fishing do not use ice and the fish starts to decay by the time boats reach the coast. The decaying fish generates toxic gas posing a threat to the lives of boatmen. “Hundreds of trucks are transporting juvenile fish to fish meal factories in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

As demand increases, boatmen and traditional fishermen are forced to engage in juvenile fishing. This can lead to depletion of fish stocks, affecting the livelihood of fishermen.

The government should initiate strict measures to stop illegal fishing,” he said. “Following complaints, the fisheries director held a review meeting and ordered a statewide drive to check illegal fishing. We are planning to conduct a month-long drive to enforce the rules and to monitor the activities,” said joint director of fisheries (Marine) A P Satheesh Kumar.

Meanwhile, Kerala Swatantra Matsyathozhilali Federation president Jackson Pollayil said there is a need to revise the Minimum Legal Size (MLS) for each fish species. The fisheries department had enforced MLS for 55 fish species in 2018, in an attempt to enforce sustainable fishing practices.

“Following complaints regarding juvenile fishing, the fisheries department had conducted surprise inspections at fish landing centres and checked the size of the fish. The oil sardine caught by traditional fishermen was just above MLS measuring 10-11 cm. The oil sardine grows to a length of 18 cm but the MLS is 10 cm. The government has to hold talks with scientists and revise MLS. The MLS of oil sardine should be 15 cm,” he said.

“The demand to revise MLS is genuine. CMFRI is holding talks with various state governments to fix a unified MLS for all popular species. This will help avoid overfishing. While revising the MLS we have to control inputs like enforcing mesh size and engine power,” said Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute principal scientist T M Najmudeen.

“Overfishing is an issue of serious concern. Though the fish size is above MLS, we have to allow it to mature and spawn. There should be a spawning population of at least 30% for sustainable fisheries. If we allow time for the fish to mature, the fishermen will get more returns. Bottom trawling and pair trawling both by mechanised boats and motorised boats are destroying the marine ecosystem and killing marine resources,” he said.