Tarun Karthick
Campbell Bay, 03 November 2021
The fishermen community of Campbell Bay recently held a protest in front of the Fisheries Ice Plant at Campbell Bay against the operation of a longline boat procured by a local businessman. The members of the community alleged that if the longline boat is allowed to operate from Campbell Bay then they will face problems in procurement of Ice from the Ice plant run by the Department of Fisheries.
They further alleged that more longline boats will come to Campbell Bay for ice from different places if one boat is allowed to operate from Campbell Bay.
The members of the fishermen community were completely against the idea of a long line boat operating from Campbell Bay.
Nicobar Times spoke to the Director of Fisheries, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, who informed us that there is no dearth of ice blocks at Campbell Bay and the requirement of the ice of the fishermen community will be fulfilled. He added that there is a wrong assertion among the members of the fishermen community that once this longline boat operates, more boats will come and they will face problems. The Director informed that the production capacity of the ice blocks will be increased as and when the demand increases by roping in the private players to operate ice plants under subsidy from various schemes of the Govt. of India.
Fisheries is one of the two backbones of the economy of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the development of this sector determines the development of the Islands. Private players should be encouraged to enter this sector so that more employment can be generated and more revenue can be brought into the Islands.
The members of the fishermen community also fear the loss of their livelihood, which at some level is also justified. The members have been in the trade of fishing for a long time and their complete livelihood depends on it, but arrangements can be made to ensure that their livelihood is not affected by the operation of the long line fishing boat.
Nicobar Times also visited the local Ice Plant operated by the Fisheries Department at Campbell Bay and enquired about the past average consumption of ice blocks by the fishermen community. We came to know that the average consumption of the Ice at Campbell Bay is around 22,000 Kgs per month, which translates to around 440 blocks of ice per month.
The production capacity of the Ice Plant at Campbell Bay is 180 blocks (each block of 50 Kg) of ice every three days. The figures indicate that the production capacity of the Ice Plant is well over the requirement of the fishermen community and if the plant is run at even half the capacity, it should be able to meet the requirements of both the members of the fishermen community and the new longline boat.
There are some issues like the non-availability of sufficient staff at the Ice Plant, Campbell Bay which has to be made available by the Department of Fisheries on priority to ensure that the fishermen community do not face any problems.
The demand of the fishermen community to not allow any long line boats to operate from Campbell Bay is wrong. A legally licensed longline fishing boat cannot be stopped from operating, it is against the law and the right of free trade provided by Article 301 of the Constitution of India.