In its bid to secure the 1,600-km long Gujarat coastline from any possible terror attack through the sea route, the Porbandar Collectorate convened a meeting of fishermen and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) officials on Wednesday.

The fishermen were informed about the changes in security measure that the Coast Guard plans to propose to the state government. The proposed changes, however, did not go down well with the fishermen from Porbandar, Mangrol and Veraval.

Apart from declaring an area of 10 nautical miles from the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) as a no-fishing zone, the Coast Guard wants a ban on fishing in a 500-metre radius of oil refineries, oil rigs and important ports on the Saurashtra coast.

The objective is to provide this industrial zone a security cover, given an increased threat of terror attacks through the sea route in the wake of Mumbai attacks. The points identified include Vadinar (Essar Refinery), Kandla port, Mundra port, Porbandar port and Porbandar jetty.

The ICG is also in favour of demarcation of zones for major centres like Porbandar, Veraval, Mangrol and Jakhau, and one-window system for registration of boats, fishermen and creek passes.

“Saurashtra's coastline has a dense industrial zone. The no-fishing zone around the vital points will help these sensitive points to stay safe,” said ICG Commandant K L Arun.

To keep a close watch on the movements of boats, the Coast Guard has been proposing to mark the zones on the line of various harbours. It plans to identify different zones for Porbandar, Mangrol, Veraval and Jakhau harbours, allowing boats from a particular harbour to fish only in the specific zone.

According to this proposal, a boat from Porbandar cannot enter Veraval or Jakhau zones and vice versa. The measure aims to prevent trespassing of boats.

Reacting to this, Porbandar Boat Association president Jivan Jungi, said, “Fishing cannot be done in a restricted area. The boat has to go where the catch is available. If Porbandar boat cannot go to Jakhau, it may not find catch at all.”

The fishermen also want the no-fishing zone area to be limited to 100 metres instead of the proposed 500-metre radius. “We do understand that these are sensitive areas, but 100-metre no-fishing zone will be sufficient,” said Jungi.

He, however, said they have no objection to the 10-nautical-mile no-fishing zone on either side of the IMBL. “We are ready to follow whatever the boundary drawn from the IMBL,” Jungi added.