The situation has assumed alarming proportions and calls for immediate corrective steps from the policy makers and those in the fisheries industry.

Greed for money has made fishermen and exporters kill the goose that gives the golden egg. They fish even during monsoons, the breeding season of fishes and very soon fishes will vanish if such practices continue and authorities don't wake up.

There is an urgent need to implement most stringent conservation measures. Normally monsoon is the breeding season for fish and no fishing should be allowed during this season. In fact earlier days had seen a ban on fishing operations during the monsoon. Its time that the government enforce restrictions on big fishing vessels and permit only deep sea fishing during the monsoons. Already there are restrictions imposed on the entry of foreign fishing vessels.

Since both fishermen and the industry appreciated the need to follow this discipline, fishing used to be voluntarily suspended during monsoon thus allowing the breeding to take place without any hindrance.

The situation changed for some unscrupulous fishermen acting with the support of industry have put an end to this practice. Slowly but surely the adverse effects of this indiscipline are hitting the industry hard and fish landings are gradually on the decline. States took steps earlier and enforced a ban on fishing during monsoon, which again was limited to a 45-60 day period. This technical issue was also politicised in some states with various political parties taking contradictory stands.

The issue was further challenged in the courts by a few exporters and obtained orders restraining the ban overlooking the basic fact that this ban was in their own interest and in the interest of the country. Now, the time has come to build public opinion in support of the suspension of fishing operations during the breeding season and a need to create awareness among fisherfolk and industry about facts.

Even for Indian vessels, it is necessary to apply some constraints. Effective measures and strict enforcement of them will ensure that natural process of recouping the sea wealth is not adversely effected. Perhaps this is our last opportunity to maintain our fishery wealth.

(The author is fisheries technocrat)