The commercial launch of deep-sea fishing vessel developed by ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (ICAR-CIFT) has received a good response.
Separate models for trawling, long-liners and gillnetting, which were built at Goa Shipyard in 2015, have proved that they ensure over 15% savings on fuel usage. Based on the trial, the Government of India accepted the design and offered construction of 16 vessels in Cochin Shipyard, with subsidy under Blue Revolution project for supply to Tamil Nadu last year. These vessels are being used for catching tuna.
Kerala has now ordered 10 such vessels. Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka are also approaching the CIFT for introducing such eco-friendly vessels in these States.
CIFT Director C.N. Ravishankar told The Hindu that they were expecting Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and other leading maritime States to introduce such vessels. The cost of each vessel is around ₹1.2 crore.
Sustainable fishing
Stating that one has to look beyond coastal fishing and diversification from shrimp-centric approach, he said with depleting fishing resources, they are taking steps to popularise nets that prevent juvenile fishing.
Expressing satisfaction over the ban imposed by Kerala on juvenile fishing, Mr. Ravishankar said inappropriate gears during bottom trawling lead to trapping of juvenile fish in the nets.
The fishermen should be convinced to use square mesh with cod end and size of 35 to 40 mm to allow small fish to find a passage to go into water even after caught by the nets.
He said a team of officials from the U.S. who visited Kochi to inspect the use of turtle-exclusion devices (TEDs) expressed satisfaction over the technology evolved by the CIFT to prevent trapping of turtles in the net.
Many are indulging in juvenile fishing for small earnings as their catch has ready-takers for fish meal industry mainly poultry and aqua units.
Mr. Ravishankar said the CIFT has developed several by-catch-reduction devices such as square mesh to ensure sustainable fishing and it is helping the industry with sustainable harvest and post-harvest technologies.
He said they are working on developing corrosion proof technologies for better functioning of steel boats. Orgasms, barnacles and nematodes get affixed to the boats increasing its weight, thereby resulting in consumption of more fuel reducing their speed. “We have developed a prototype using nanotechnology to protect the hull of the boat from marine growth. The anti-corrosion and antifouling boat will be a major breakthrough,” he added.