Chennai: To safeguard and regulate the interests of traditional fishermen along the Tamil Nadu coast and to conserve the marine resources of the State’s coast, a Bill seeking to amend the Tamil Nadu
Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1983, was introduced in the Assembly by fisheries minister K.A. Jeyapual on Saturday.
The Act, called the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2016, was later adopted by voice vote. Moving the Bill, Jayapal said the “multi-dimensional expansion of marine fishing activities, government’s initiatives to diversify fishing into deep sea and dynamic coastal security scenario require quality fishing boats with higher length and engine capacity, quality fishing implements and skill development of fishermen to enable fishing boats for deep sea fishing.”
The government felt the need to enact legislation to provide sufficient capacity fishing boat constructed in boat yards regulated by government’s quality standards and regulations, regulated production and supply of fishing implements and capacity building of fishermen to drive such fishing vessels”, he said.
“It is therefore considered necessary by the Government to amend the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1983 (Tamil Nadu Act 8 of 1983) for safeguarding the interests of traditional fishermen, regulation of fishing by fishing vessels, regulation of boat building yards and net manufacturing units, conservation and management of fishery resources along the coast of Tamil
Nadu”, the minister said.
CPI (M) MLA K. Balakrishnan who opposed the bill told reporters that the law imposed fine on fishermen if the boats were not regularised under the new Act and this Act was a threat to the fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fisher-
men.
