Deep-sea fishing licences suicidal

An alliance of fishermen yesterday termed the government decision to issue 25 licences for deep-sea fishing without any survey 'suicidal', as it stands to fast deplete the Bay of Bengal's marine stock.
“One of the major problems of the fisheries sector is indiscriminate fishing, due to which fish stock in the 40-metre depth area is on the decline. These new licences would only make it worse,” said Bangladesh Fish Workers Alliance (BFWA), a platform of 700 marginal fishermen, in a statement.
The association also said the move stands to wipe off the small fishermen's livelihoods, and, therefore, urged the government not to go ahead with it.
The demand from BFWA comes after the government decided for the second time in two years to issue fresh licences for fishing trawlers.
In 2011, the government issued 34 licences for deep-sea fishing, many of which were alleged to have been issued on political consideration and changed hands in exchange of cash up to Tk 2 crore.
At present, some 200 trawlers together with thousands of boats are engaged in fishing in the sea, with many claiming to be experiencing falling catches per trip.
BFWA then went on to call out on the government for shifting from its previous stance of issuing no new licence before stock assessment is conducted, last done about 20 years ago.
“No agency in the country has data about the present marine stock in the Bay of Bengal. It is not clear to us on what basis the government has decided to issue the licences,” said Sheikh Asad, a member of BFWA, at a press conference yesterday.
Asad, therefore, called for transparency in the process for issuing new licences and steps to ensure that the real fishermen get them.
“Arrangements should also be there so that none gets permission to operate trawlers on political grounds.”