Fishers raise fears over draft guidelines to regulate fishing in high seas
Fishermen’s unions and fisheries experts have expressed concern over draft guidelines for regulating fishing by Indian flagged fishing vessels on the high seas (for areas outside the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone).
Their fear relates to current guidelines that encourage capital investments for large companies in the fisheries sector.
“We are not in favor of allowing partnership firms, private and public limited companies and corporations to play an active role in the fishing sector when the sector is already over-capitalized with traditional/existing fishermen. A variety of concerned citizens said in a letter to the Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Products Albanians (MoFAHD) This will seriously affect the livelihoods of current fishermen.
The current guidelines contravene Article 5 of the UNFSA (United Nations Fish Stocks Convention to which India is a party) which requires states and coastal states that fish on the high seas to ensure that the actions they take ensure that fish stocks are sustainable in the long term and are based on the best available scientific evidence.
The guidelines are not identical
The IOTC Scientific Committee noted in 2021 that the increase in catches in recent years has greatly increased the pressure on yellowfin tuna stocks in the Indian Ocean, resulting in fishing mortality. Therefore, catches must be significantly reduced to realistically achieve the recommendations of the Scientific Committee. The Maldives proposes to reduce total catches above 20 percent to restore stocks with a probability of more than 50 percent in 2030.
The current guidelines, according to Hunters, are inconsistent with the IOTC decision effective January 1, 2023. Provision for permitting partnership firms, private/public limited companies and corporations should therefore be omitted from the guidelines.
They also did not agree to the established licensing fees and demanded that they be reduced significantly without burdening the small-scale fishing sector.
Another major resource harvested from the northwest Arabian Sea is the oceanic squid, which is targeted by fishing fleets from China. More than 300 large vessels target this resource using squid and light winches during the period from October to May. CMFRI has advised the government on targeting this resource by retrofitting small sized Indian mechanized vessels, but so far no specific plans to encourage this have been put in place by the US State Department. The draft guidelines do not say anything specific in this regard.
We urge the US Department of State to fully amend the draft guidelines, taking into account India’s international obligations and its protective role for small-scale Indian fishermen. The letter said this guideline was necessary given the number of Indian fishing vessels fishing in areas outside India’s exclusive economic zone without any protection or security from the government.