The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a plea by fishers challenging a ban by the Tamil Nadu government on purse seine fishing. The petitioners said that a Central government expert committee report found no fault with this mode of fishing.
The Supreme Court, in a judgment in 2023, had allowed purse seine fishing outside the territorial waters of Tamil Nadu. The apex court, however, had imposed stringent conditions to regulate the extent of such fishing outside the 12 nautical miles limit off Tamil Nadu.
Appearing before a Bench headed by Justice A.S. Oka, the petitioners, represented by senior advocate K. Parameshwar and advocate Jaya Sukin, said local fishermen travel in and out of territorial waters while fishing. Justice Oka said the designated authority would have to go through the committee report if it was in favour of purse seine fishing.
Mr. Parameshwar said Tamil Nadu could not have imposed the ban as fisheries did not come under its purview. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, however, pointed out that Tamil Nadu had the authority to ban purse seine fishing within its territorial waters.
A Central government affidavit in the Supreme Court in May 2024 said the subject of ‘fishing and fisheries beyond territorial waters’ was within the mandate of the Union government.
“The Department of Fisheries, Government of India, has not imposed any restriction on purse seine fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) beyond territorial waters,” the affidavit said.
The expert panel had also The expert panel refused to accept that purse seine fishing caused “serious resource depletion”. recommended purse seine fishing in territorial waters and the Indian EEZ, subject to certain conditions.
The case has been listed for April 26 for a detailed hearing.
Published – March 04, 2025 11:53 pm IST