Fishing with high-beam lights: marine enforcement squad steps up coastal patrol

The Marine enforcement squad under the Fisheries department has again intensified coastal patrol, noticing a spike in alleged illegal attempts to catch fish using high-beam lights off the Kozhikode coast.

The squads were able to impound four boats in the last six months, thanks to intensified vigil. A fine of ₹5.90 lakh was collected from the owners of the impounded boats. Three of the seized boats were reportedly operated from Beypore and Puthiyappa harbours. One boat was from Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu.

“The latest incident was on February 11. The fishing boat named Lotus from the Beypore harbour was impounded with a set of high-power high-beam lights, which were manufactured specially for illegal fishing and kept hidden in a secret storage space,” said a Fisheries department official. He added that the owner was slapped with a fine of ₹2.5 lakh.

Functionaries of local harbour development committees said no local fishers would try to cash in on “high-beam light fishing” as they were all aware of its impact on fishery resources. They claimed that the illegal operators were mainly fishers from other States and migrant workers.

“There were several instances where we exchanged confidential details with marine enforcement squads about the presence of illegal fishers with banned lights. We never support such practices in our harbour,” said a local boat owner from Beypore. He added that fishermen’s associations and trade union workers were all against the illegal practice and did not report the matter to the authorities on time.

Fisheries department officials said a patrol boat would be deployed 24x7 for flash inspections. They added that the patrol squad had the support of police officers on deputation. If needed, the support of the coastal police would also be sought in the days to come, they said.