With seaboard of 8,000 km and an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 2 million square km, and with an area of about 30,000 square km under aquaculture, India produces close to six million tons of fish, over 4 per cent of the world fish production. After China, Peru and Japan, India is the fourth largest producer of fish. A little less than half this production from the marine sector, especially from the territorial waters.
While the marine waters up to 50 m. depth are fully exploited, the waters beyond this depth are believed to be under-exploited. There have been unsuccessful efforts since 1959 to maximize fish production in deep waters under the aegis of the Union Government. Now the Agriculture Ministry has issued with effect from 1st November 2002 the Guidelines for Fishing Operations in the Indian EEZ.
The new set of guidelines applies to fishing operations in the EEZ by all vessels — registered as partnerships, private and public limited companies and corporations — flying the Indian flag. It thus focuses on the registration status of fishing vessels, unlike the previous policy regimes that stressed the mode of acquisition of fishing vessels under chartering arrangements and joint ventures.
The Guidelines allow deep-sea fishing vessels to employ foreign crew. The need to employ foreign crew on board fishing vessels flying the Indian flag is not clear, particularly considering that India has a pool of trained and experienced manpower in deep sea fishing on vessels below 24 m.
A deep sea fishing vessel above 20 m, according to the new guidelines, can undertake mid-sea transfer of fish and it can leave the Indian EEZ for a foreign port, which means an operator need not land his fish in Indian ports after operations in Indian waters. It would suggest India will not be discharging its flag State obligations towards vessels that fly its flag under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Article 94).
Under the new guidelines, there is no obligation for the vessels to return to the base port in India within a stipulated period of time. This could only benefit distant water vessels targeting tuna in its entire range of distribution, which often includes the EEZs of several maritime States as well as the high seas. A tuna long-liner registered in India as an Indian company can choose the period of fishing operation in India when tuna resources migrate through Indian waters. It can then move on to other EEZs or the high seas, a practice adopted by several distant water tuna fishing vessels in the southern Indian Ocean. Already Taiwanese, Korean and Thai long liners, based in Iran, Oman, Pakistan and Thailand, are targeting tuna resources of the Indian Ocean, especially in the proximity of the Indian EEZ. The non-requirement to return to the Indian base port can technically help the same fishing vessel to fish under different flags, and to return legally to the Indian EEZ.
There is no specification in the guidelines of the age of the vessel that can be used for deep-sea fishing. This can pose safety problems for fishermen on board the vessels, as there may then be no measures to prevent old and unsafe fishing vessels from being introduced.
Since there are no vessel quotas or license fees commensurate with the value of the catch, and since there is no requirement to employ Indian workers or to land in Indian ports, the whole system is loaded in favor of foreign deep-sea fishing vessel operators registered as Indian companies.
Does India actually need to bring in vessels larger than 20 m for deep-sea fishing? There are already about 50,000 mechanized fishing vessels and at least 20 per cent of these are fit to operate in waters beyond the territorial sea. Instead of adding new fishing vessels to an already large fishing capacity, measures should be adopted to use the existing capacity to develop new fisheries in the Indian EEZ. There are numerous examples of vessels below 20 m. catching tuna in different parts of the world. Large collector vessels can assist smaller long liners in transporting tuna from the fishing vessels to the harbor. Such an arrangement could also benefit Indian crew and bring several other benefits to the Indian fishing economy.
The Murari committee had recommended reservation for Indian vessels of up to 100 nautical miles from the seaboard on the west coast, 50 nautical miles on the east coast and the island groups for Indian mechanized fishing vessels below 20 m. length.
Vessels below 20 m particularly in maritime States like Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu — three of the biggest marine fish producing States of India — have already demonstrated their ability to harvest fisheries resources in the Indian EEZ. Their fish production from the Indian EEZ, however, continues to be recorded as fish production from the territorial waters. The vessels below 20 m. in Gujarat, for example, fish up to 200 nautical miles, if not beyond. The long line shark fishermen of Tamil Nadu are known to fish in the outer reaches of the EEZ, and even in the EEZ of neighboring waters. The trawlers of Kerala below 20 m. have demonstrated their capacity to go deep into the EEZ.
Rather than going for new fishing vessels above 20 m. with no significant returns to the Indian economy and society, it is better to use existing capacity and the skills of Indian fishermen who, using vessels below 20 m, have already expanded their operations deep into the EEZ. The State should invest in building up the capacity of the existing fleet to undertake diversified, safe and responsible fishing operations in the Indian EEZ.
Source: The Hindu – By Sebastian Mathew