193
10 South Indian Trawl Fisheries – Assessing Their Governability
subsidizing a fi shery sub-sector that is overcapitalized and reportedly over fi shing
the stock.
6 From this perspective, the government, by solving one problem, actually
made others worse.
Another approach to the situation of declining pro fi tability can be imagined.
For example, in a survey one third of the trawl boat owners indicated a willingness
to leave the sector if they were to receive compensation (Sathyapalan et al. 2007 ) .
Add to this the fact that many of the boats in the Palk Bay are worth less than the
value of a 2-year diesel subsidy, and an opportunity to use this subsidy as a lump
sum to buy out a substantial part of the fl eet emerges. Although such measures
are certainly easier put forward than carried out, the point here is that there has
not been any occasion during which the government discussed such possibilities
with boat owners. In short, this measure seems to be a perfect example of reactiveness without being genuinely responsive – in the sense of fully appreciating
the different concerns at stake and attempting to provide an integrated formula to
address them.
3 Nautical Miles Rule
The 3 nm rule was issued in 1983 to curb the violent con fl icts between small-scale
and trawler fi shers throughout Tamil Nadu. Bavinck ( 2001, 2003 ) points out, however, that this rule is generally fl outed. This is the case in the Palk Bay as well.
At Malipattinam, a smaller landing center in the Palk Bay that hosts 150 vessels, trawl fi shers repeatedly move inshore in search of shrimp. This practice was
illustrated during one of our fi eld visits to the location when we observed about a
hundred trawlers operating within 2 km from the coast. Small-scale fi shers in the
village were livid, but explained that they are powerless because the FD takes the
side of the trawler fi shers and refuses punitive action. The Fisheries Inspector in
question defended himself saying that he thought the rule had lost its relevance in
view of technical changes in the small-scale fi sheries. What he did not say, but
might have done, is that the 3 nm rule has basically proven to be unenforceable, if
only because the FD lacks personnel and equipment to apprehend violators on the
spot (Bavinck 2001 ) .
Alternate Day Fishing Rule
In order to solve the con fl ict between small-scale and trawler fi shers, district of fi cials
in the Palk Bay decided to separate the warring parties by introducing time slots:
trawl fi shers would fi sh during 3 days a week, and small-scale fi shers would fi sh the
remaining days (Bavinck 2003 ) . Apparent here is the fi t between the type of regulation
and the Palk Bay’s natural characteristics. Due to the limited size of the Bay, long
6 The subsidization of unsustainable fi sheries is, however, an international phenomenon (see Kurien
2006 ; Sumaila and Pauly 2006 ) .
10 South Indian Trawl Fisheries – Assessing Their Governability
subsidizing a fi shery sub-sector that is overcapitalized and reportedly over fi shing
the stock.
6 From this perspective, the government, by solving one problem, actually
made others worse.
Another approach to the situation of declining pro fi tability can be imagined.
For example, in a survey one third of the trawl boat owners indicated a willingness
to leave the sector if they were to receive compensation (Sathyapalan et al. 2007 ) .
Add to this the fact that many of the boats in the Palk Bay are worth less than the
value of a 2-year diesel subsidy, and an opportunity to use this subsidy as a lump
sum to buy out a substantial part of the fl eet emerges. Although such measures
are certainly easier put forward than carried out, the point here is that there has
not been any occasion during which the government discussed such possibilities
with boat owners. In short, this measure seems to be a perfect example of reactiveness without being genuinely responsive – in the sense of fully appreciating
the different concerns at stake and attempting to provide an integrated formula to
address them.
3 Nautical Miles Rule
The 3 nm rule was issued in 1983 to curb the violent con fl icts between small-scale
and trawler fi shers throughout Tamil Nadu. Bavinck ( 2001, 2003 ) points out, however, that this rule is generally fl outed. This is the case in the Palk Bay as well.
At Malipattinam, a smaller landing center in the Palk Bay that hosts 150 vessels, trawl fi shers repeatedly move inshore in search of shrimp. This practice was
illustrated during one of our fi eld visits to the location when we observed about a
hundred trawlers operating within 2 km from the coast. Small-scale fi shers in the
village were livid, but explained that they are powerless because the FD takes the
side of the trawler fi shers and refuses punitive action. The Fisheries Inspector in
question defended himself saying that he thought the rule had lost its relevance in
view of technical changes in the small-scale fi sheries. What he did not say, but
might have done, is that the 3 nm rule has basically proven to be unenforceable, if
only because the FD lacks personnel and equipment to apprehend violators on the
spot (Bavinck 2001 ) .
Alternate Day Fishing Rule
In order to solve the con fl ict between small-scale and trawler fi shers, district of fi cials
in the Palk Bay decided to separate the warring parties by introducing time slots:
trawl fi shers would fi sh during 3 days a week, and small-scale fi shers would fi sh the
remaining days (Bavinck 2003 ) . Apparent here is the fi t between the type of regulation
and the Palk Bay’s natural characteristics. Due to the limited size of the Bay, long
6 The subsidization of unsustainable fi sheries is, however, an international phenomenon (see Kurien
2006 ; Sumaila and Pauly 2006 ) .