Cracking down on illegal purse seine fishing, which seriously harms marine life, the State government has been conducting checks to prevent use of purse seine nets in the past few days.
“We are currently conducting checks for the banned purse seine nets in various coastal districts, including Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari,” a senior official in the Fisheries Department said. In an unprecedented move, the officials seized five purse seine nets in Cuddalore.
Variants of purse seine nets are also banned.
Johny Tom Varghese, Project Director - Palk Bay/Additional Director, Fisheries, has been deputed to Cuddalore as a Special Officer to check whether purse seine nets are being used there.
In Nagapattinam, officials seized a truckload of fish caught using the banned nets. But when the authorities were checking the vehicle, its occupants escaped after assaulting them.
A senior official said an FIR had been registered over the incident.
Purse seine fishinginvariably kills marine species beyond the intended target and adversely impacts marine life.