Question : Deep Sea Fishing

(a) whether the details of the foreign vessels owned by Indian companies which obtained Letter of Permission (LoP) for deep sea fishing in territorial sea of the country are available with the Government and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether his Ministry seeks the opinion and concurrence of the Ministries of Shipping, Finance and Defence prior to issue of LoP to foreign vessels owned by Indian companies for deep sea fishing and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether it has come to the notice of his Ministry that such vessels have stopped their operation as per the directions of the High Court of Kerala;

(d) if so, the total number of vessels returned to their original ports along with the details of such vessels; and

(e) the details of marine wealth exploited by these foreign vessels owned by Indian companies during the last three ?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

(SHRI RADHA MOHAN SINGH)

(a) to (e) : A Statement is placed on the Table of the House.


*****

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 234 PUT IN BY SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN & PROF. SAUGATA ROY FOR ANSWER ON 1ST AUGUST, 2017 REGARDING DEEP SEA FISHING


(a) No foreign vessels were permitted to do fishing in the territorial sea of the country under Letter of Permission (LOP) regime implemented by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries (DADF), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The LOPs were granted only to Indian owned and registered deep-sea fishing vessels for fishing in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the details of which are at ‘Annexure-I’.

(b) An Inter-Ministerial Empowered Committee on Marine Fisheries (EC) was authorized for considering the eligible applications for issue of LOPs to Indian entrepreneurs. This Committee comprised of representatives from various Ministries/ Departments/Organizations including Ministries of Shipping, Home Affairs, Finance and Defence.

(c)&(d)The Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries has rescinded the Guidelines for operation of LOP vessels w.e.f. 30.01.2017. Thus, all LOPs issued have been cancelled in March, 2017 prior to the Judgement of the High Court of Kerala dated 14th June, 2017. The details of LOP vessels, which have been cancelled are enclosed in ‘Annexure-II’.

(e) The details of fish catch reported by LOP vessels during 2014 to 2016 (last three years) are as below:

Year Catch (Kg)
2014 526620
2015 477830
2016 nil

*****