Maharashtra Government Bans use of Purse Seine Nets for Fishing

Maharashtra Government Bans use of Purse Seine Nets for Fishing

Maharashtra Government has declared to ban the use of Purse Seine Nets for fishing across Maharashtra from January 1, 2017 to safeguard the Fingerlings, a fish species. The move is aimed at curbing the exploitation of fish by safeguarding the fingerlings and its eggs to increase their population.

The decision is expected to benefit the traditional fisherman community that use much smaller nets in shallow waters. It will increase fish catch and protect the fish population as larger pores will allow fishlings and eggs to slip out during the daily catch. Purse seine nets are large fishing nets used to catch fish in bulk. It can stretch from 500 metres up to 1 kilometres and sometimes fishermen attach two or three such nets and cover an area of 3 kilometres to catch large proportion of fish population. The nets have mesh spanning from 25 mm to 35mm that blocks small fish, fishlings and fish eggs from falling back into the ocean, thereby stopping them from multiplying.