Kochi: Conference of fisheries ministers of South Indian states will be held in Kochi on November 10 and 11. The meeting, to be organised by Fisheries department, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute and Central Ins-titute of Fisheries Tech-nology, aims at exhibiting the successful interventions made by the state in conservation of fisheries resources and seeking their partnership in such initiatives, said Fisheries minister J. Mercykutty Amma.
She was addressing the consultative meeting organised at CMFRI on Monday.
“The government has made series of active in-tervention in conservati-on of fisheries resources. The Kerala Marine Fis-hing Regulation Act (KMFR) in 2017 has been amended. Catch of juveni-le fishes has been banned and size and mesh size of fishing nets were regularized,” the minister said.
However, she observed that such regulations will not be effective unless the neighbouring states follow the measures. “Mari-ne fisheries resources can be conserved only if the Union government gives due importance to conservation measures in policy making. All states should follow the measures as well,” she added.
There will be technical sessions on various topics related to fisheries reso-urces conservation. Pape-rs will be presented on topics including national fisheries policy, banning destructive fishing practices, banning juvenile fishing, restrictions on construction of fishing vessels, automatic identification system and plastic pollution. An organising committee has been constituted for conducting the conference.
Fisheries director S. Venkateshpathi, CIFT director C.N. Ravisankar and top officials of various government agencies and MLAs also attended the meeting.
