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Bottom trawling and associated issues

  • IAS NEXT, Lucknow
  • 27, Dec 2021
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Reference News:-

Sri Lankan authorities between December 18 and 20 and the impounding of 10 boats for “poaching” in territorial waters have again raised concerns about the fate of the men.

What’s the issue now?

Fishermen from Tamil Nadu getting arrested and released later has become a routine affair, but there have been cases of deaths.

  • The bone of contention between the two countries has been the use of bottom trawlers by the Tamil Nadu fishermen, a practice opposed in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province on the ground that trawling damages the marine ecosystem.
  • This practice has been banned in Sri Lanka and there have been agitations for stringent enforcement of the law.

The Indian side had agreed twice — in 2010 and 2016 — to phase out and end the practice of bottom trawling. But it has not ended yet.

What is the issue with Bottom trawling?

Bottom trawling, an ecologically destructive practice, involves trawlers dragging weighted nets along the sea-floor, causing great depletion of aquatic resources.

  • Bottom trawling captures juvenile fish, thus exhausting the ocean’s resources and affecting marine conservation efforts. This practice was started by Tamil Nadu fishermen in Palk Bay and actively pursued at the peak of the civil war in Sri Lanka.

Solution to the bottom trawling- deep-sea fishing plan:

The solution to the bottom trawling issue lies in transition from trawling to deep-sea fishing.

  • The activity of catching fish that live in the deep parts of the sea/ocean is called deep-sea fishing.
  • The boats are designed in such a way that fishermen get access to the deeper parts of the ocean and fish species.
  • It is practiced worldwide, especially in the coastal areas with no ecological damage.
  • The depth of water should be at least 30 meters to be considered a deep sea fishing zone.

Efforts by Government- the Palk Bay scheme:

  • Launched in July 2017 under the Blue Revolution programme.
  • The scheme is financed by the Union and the State Governments with beneficiary participation.
  • It had envisaged the provision of 2,000 vessels in three years to the fishermen of the State and motivate them to abandon bottom trawling.