Interaction with beneficiary fishermen groups
Under the project Green Fishing System for Tropical Seas funded by the National Agriculture Fund in operation at ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Cochin an interaction meet for conducting experimental operations using advanced long lines was conducted with the members of South Asian Fishermen Fraternity (SAFF), a fishermen Society on 26 April, 2016 at Muttam, Kanyakumari district. The South Asian Fishermen Fraternity is a fishermen Society in Muttam village of Kanyakumari district. More than 3000 long line fishermen are registered with the Society and are engaged in deep sea mono filament long lining.
The meeting was organized by SAFF for the interaction with beneficiary fishermen groups of Muttam, Thuthoor and Enayamon experimental long line operation. Thirty long line fishermen participated in the meeting. Fr. Churchil, General Secretary of the Society welcomed the gathering. Dr. Leela Edwin, Principal Investigator and Head of Fishing Technology Division of ICAR-CIFT spoke on the objectives of the project and advantages of long line fishing. Shri Julius, fisherman leader and long line boat owner also spoke. The fishermen who participated raised the issues like detrimental effects of bottom trawling when compared to the line fishing and said that line fishing should be promoted. They also suggested introduction of more Fish Aggregating Devices (FAD’s) for enhancing fish catch and ensuring environmental protection. Shri V.T. Antony, Senior Research Fellow under the project collected the information on juvenile fish landing at Muttam harbour from the fishermen.
