After a gap of six months, marine fishermen of the district started venturing into the sea for fishing from Saturday following as the Forest Department lifted the ban on fishing in the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.
Notably, the State Forest department had imposed a ban on fishing from November 1, 2012 to May 31 last in accordance with provisions of the Odisha Marine Fishing Regulation Act (OMFRA), 1982, the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the Odisha Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1982 and the Odisha Marine Fishing Rules, 1983 to protect the endangered Olive Ridley Sea turtles 20km off sea coast in the Bay of Bengal.
As the ban was lifted from fishing at the Bay of Bengal on Saturday, the fishermen seemed jubilant. Preparations were made on Saturday morning at the jetties at Talchua, Ramnagar and Kharanashi to venture into the sea for fishing.
On Saturday, it was a festive time for fishermen in the coastal parts of the district. Groups of fisherwomen were seen congregating in the sea shore and worshipping the sea by offering sweets and performing several rituals. The women were found worshipping boats and trawlers too.
According to Odisha Traditional Fish workers’ Union(OTFWU) president Narayan Haldar, nearly 60 mechanised fishing boats started their journey from Kharnashi jetty for catching fish on the first day after the ban was lifted by the forest department.
Sea fishing is the only source of collecting bread and butter for the traditional fishermen of the district.
The forest department had pushed many fishermen virtually into the brink of poverty by imposing the ban on sea fishing under the pretext of providing the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles safety for six months.
This year, more than 500 fishermen, who had left the district in desperation of losing livelihood and were engaged in other sectors to collect their bread and butter, have started returning to their villages as the fishing season has begun.
Earlier, the State Government had decided to provide Rs 2- a-kg rice under the PDS scheme to the fishers during the fishing ban period, but no rice was distributed in practice. Though the Central Empowered Committee formed by the Supreme Court had recommended in 2007 to compensate the affected fishermen during the ban, but the State Government has yet to provide compensation to the affected fishermen.
The steps taken by State Government for providing succor to the fishermen during the fishing ban period is insufficient. Even the World Bank funded Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (ICZMP) has skipped a majority of jobless fishermen due to official apathy, said sources.
According to official sources of the Marine Fishery Department, now the fishermen, who will venture into the sea for catching fish, would do it after taking registration certificate and licence of the mechanized boats or trawlers. Besides, they have to possess identity card or Biometric Fingerprints Identity Cards (BFIC).