After a gap of six and a half months, the marine fishermen of the district are all set to venture into the sea from Tuesday for fishing following lifting of a ban on fishing in the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary. Notably, the State Forest Department had imposed a ban on fishing on November 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015 in accordance with provisions of Odisha Marine Fishing Regulation Act (OMFRA), 1982, Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, Odisha Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1982 and Odisha Marine Fishing Rules, 1983 to protect the endangered Olive Ridley Sea turtles at Gahirmatha 20 km off sea coast. The Marine Fishery Department had also imposed a ban on fishing from April 15 to June 15.
The ban coincides with the spawning season for fish, during which they release their eggs. As trawlers use fishing nets with small gaps, eggs and young ones are caught in the nets leading to depletion in fish production. As a result, around 2,000 gill net boats of Kendrapara and 558 trawlers of Jagatsinghpur anchored in the jetties before going to sea for catching fish. But catamarans and manual fishing boats up to 8.5 meters length were exempted from the ban, said Assistant Director of Fishery (marine) Department, Kujanga Biraja Prasanna Mohapatra.
As the ban is going to be lifted from fishing at Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, preparation are on in full swing on Sunday at jetties at Talchua, Ramnagar and Kharanashi, said Odisha Traditional Fish workers’ Union(OTFWU) Narayan Haldar. According to official sources, the Marine Fishery Department has asked all fishermen to take registration certificate and licence for their mechanized boats or trawlers, besides their identity cards. The fishermen have also been asked to paint their sea worthy boats with red and black colour.