Boat owners and workers in the mechanised sector are arguing that the ban on trawling, normally imposed by the state government from June 15 for 45 days, will hit the output considerably. They want the government not to go ahead with the move or it should should change the period of ban to December-February.

The Kollam district fishing boat operators association had alleged that the government had frozen the functioning of Balakrishnan Nair committee constituted to study the impact of trawling during monsoon. They have threatened to launch agitation if the ban was imposed.

Since there did not exist a national policy on the ban, each state government used to issue an order to that effect, before the monsoon.

On the other hand, coordinator Thomas Kochery of World Forumof Fish Harvesters and Fish Workers (WFF), countered the claims of the boat owners saying ``normally, four to five lakh tonnes of fish caught every year in the state and for this there is no need for any mechanised instruments.''

The Supreme Court also had noted that trawling in the season would affect the fish wealth as June-August was considered to be the breeding season.

Though the government had not issued fresh licence to foreign trawlers, based on the Murari committee report in 1996, the existing licensees were allowed to continue deep-sea trawling.

Traditional fishermen are gearing up for an agitation, demanding total ban on trawling across the coastal areas of the country. National Fishworkers Forum state president T Peter said a combined meeting of various associations in the traditional sector on May 19 would finalise the strategy to be adopted to counter the mounting pressure exerted by the boat owners on the government.

The national export of marine products from the country made anincrease from 3,78,199 tonnes during 1996-97 to 3,85,818 tonnes during 1997-98, but Kerala's share had declined, according to the data available.

Kerala, which contributed 92,288 tonnes worth Rs 936.22 crore during 1996-97, could only supply 89,366 tonnes valued at Rs 948.02 crore during 1997-98.

The traditional fishermen claim the monsoon trawling as one of the reasons for the decreasing fish wealth along the coasts. Also, foreign trawlers, shrimp farming and increasing pollutants discharged into the sea have contributed much to the decline of fish products, says Kochery.