Question : Safety of Fishermen

(a) whether the Government has taken any exclusive measures to ensure the safety and security for the fishermen who are going for deep sea fishing, if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government has taken into account collision between fishing boats and merchant ships in deep sea particularly in Arabian Sea;
(c) if so, the precautionary measures taken or instruction given by the Government to avoid such fatalities in the future;
(d) whether the Government has taken any measures to implement proper guidelines for fishermen to avoid shipping channels, if so, the details thereof; and
(e) whether there is any mechanism with the Government to monitor the movements of ships only through the recognized shipping channels, if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
(SH. SUDARSHANBHAGAT)
a). Yes Madam. The Government has taken various measures to ensure safety and security of fishermen who are going for deep sea fishing. Some of the broad measures taken include (i) Registration of all fishing vessels under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 as amended, (ii) Provisions/guidelines for manning, training, certification, safety of the ship and insurance of fishermen etc, (iii) Issuance of biometric ID cards to fishers, (iv) Operational area demarcation under the fishing permission granted and (v) periodical inspection of the deep sea fishing vessels in order to verify safety equipments and appliances in conformity with rules.

(b)&(c).The Government has taken note of such incidents of collision between fishing boats and merchant ships in deep sea, particularly in the Arabian Sea. In such cases, investigations are carried out to determine the causes and contributory factors that led to the incident, and the lessons learnt are shared through issuance of casualty circular by the Directorate General of Shipping. The Respective Registrars/ State Governments are also advised from time to time to take all preventive measures. Besides, community awareness programmes are regularly being conducted by the Indian Coast Guard to educate the fishermen on safety issues.

(d). Respective Registrars from States Maritime Boards/ UTs have been advised to educate the fishermen on the issue.

(e). The Government of India, Ministry of Shipping has taken steps to monitor the movement of ships along the coast line. The Government of India has formed an Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) for the establishment of National Coastal Vessel Traffic System (NCVTS) to enable monitoring of movement of the merchant vessels seamlessly along the coast of India. Further, the Government has also planned to establish traffic lanes for movement of such vessels.

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