Despite failing to commence the operation of all 30 trawlers approved in 2011 for extraction of sea fish, the cabinet monday accepted a proposal to increase the number of fishing boats in the exclusive economic zone in the Bay of Bengal.
The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock approved the proposal at the regular meeting of the cabinet, held at the Prime Minister’s Office, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
According to the decision taken at the meeting, 15 more mid-water trawlers and 10 more long-line fishing vehicles will be permitted to operate for sustainable and smooth sea fish extraction.
Confirming the matter, cabinet Secretary Mohammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters the inoperative trawlers would be allowed further time to fulfill the criteria for operation.
He said the cabinet approved the proposal and gave specific directives on issuing licences to the trawlers for operation.
The cabinet directed the ministry concerned to formulate an updated and comprehensive policy on sea-fish extraction by removing any inconsistencies in the current policy. He said sea fish were extracted from three tiers.
From the coastline to a depth of 40 metres, normal fishing boats operate, while from 40 metres to 200 metres in depth, mid-water trawlers operate, and from 200 metres in depth to the exclusive economic zone long-line fishing trawlers are allowed to operate.
The cabinet secretary said 299 licenced trawlers were currently operating in the second and third tiers with permission from the government and the High Court.
Of the licenced fishing boats, 199 were approved by the government, and 100 were operating following the order of the High Court as their owners did not get the approval from the ministry, Anisur Rahman, joint secretary to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, told the Dhaka Tribune.
He said an approval was given in September 2011 to the proposal to build and operate 30 trawlers. Of those, only six trawlers had been built over the last two years. Those are likely to begin operation soon. The remaining 24 trawlers are yet to be built.
The cabinet secretary also said the licences of those trawlers would be cancelled if they failed to fulfill the criteria for operation within the allocated time.
Anisur Rahman said the cost of building a mid-water trawler stood between Tk50m and Tk60m, while that for a long-line fishing trawler Tk1.5bn and 1.6bn.
The government had given approval of building and operating long-line fishing trawlers in conjunction with the views of experts from foreign agencies.
“We have communicated with some foreign expert agencies from India, Thailand and Sri Lanka. They have expressed their interest in working together. The work will begin as soon as possible,” he added.
The meeting was informed that about 54.6m tonnes of sea fish were extracted during the 2010-2011 fiscal, of which small trawlers contributed to 91% of the total extraction.
The joint secretary said: “Now we are planning to conduct a survey of the sea fish resources we have available. We have taken initiative to collect a survey ship in this regard.”
