The Marine Fishery Department has imposed a ban on fishing activities from Thursday along the eastern coast of Bay ofBengal, including Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur, for 60 days(starting from April 15 to June 14) to facilitate fish breeding.
Additional Fishery Officer (Marine), Kujanga, Manas Kumar Sahu saidthe ban is imposed every year during the period and the Marine FisheryDepartment has appealed to the fishermen not to venture into sea withmechanised vessels and trawlers as it would not only affect thebreeder fish but also affect breeding process.
The ban extends to 12 nautical miles off Odisha coast with anobjective to conserve fish species during the monsoon, which is aspawning season for many varieties including the shrimp, said Sahu.
The boats, whether it is motorised or non-motorised, measuring up to8.5 meter long, are exempted from the ban. The Marine Fishery Department has also asked the authorities of industries set up near the port town of Paradip not to discharge effluents into the waterbodies for their adverse impact on fish breeding and spawning,informed Sahu.
According to Sahu, as many as 21,832 fishing vessels, including 1,741trawlers, are registered with the Fishery department. The monsoontrawling ban was introduced in 1998 to help unhindered breeding offish during the rainy season in the sea. The monsoon period is thebreeding season of nearly 300 species, including the Hilsa fish along the coast of Odisha.