Tamil Nadu: Fishermen to go on indefinite strike to protest annual fishing ban

The ban is enforced every year and aimed at safeguarding fishes during their breeding season to conserve fish stock.

Fishermen in Tamil Nadu’s Rameshwaram on Wednesday said they would go on an indefinite strike to protest against the government’s 45-day annual fishing ban, from mid-April to May-end, during the fish breeding season.

Indian fishermen unload baskets of fish from boats at a harbour in Chennai on June 5, 2016, as fishermen return with their catch after a 45-day fishing ban. Authorities in Tamil Nadu imposes an annual ban on fishing by mechanised vessels to protect marine life, with only 'country boats' operating within five nautical miles off the coast.(AFP File Photo)

The ban is enforced every year and is aimed at safeguarding fishes during their breeding season and conserve fish stock.

Fishermen said they would sit on an indefinite strike as their finances get hurt by the ban.

“Fishermen of five districts, involving more than 50,000 fishermen, will stop working indefinitely from March 3 and are going on a strike. Thereafter, from March 6, we are ready to sit on roads,” said S Karunamoorthy, the district secretary of Tamil Nadu Fishermen Federation.

Karunamoorthy said the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, which regulates fishing in the province, needs an amendment. The fishermen group had also submitted a petition to the Tamil Nadu Government which did not receive any response.

The fishermen have refused to venture out to the sea until their demands were met.

The 45-day ban causes severe difficulties for the fishermen community, which has to manage on a meagre income during the period of inactivity.