Fishermen ignore government order

RAMANATHAPURAM: With the 45-day ban on fishing coming to an end on Tuesday, a large number of fishermen began venturing out into the sea the same evening, without obtaining tokens issued by the Fisheries Department, at Rameswaram. It is said that only nine out of 800 tokens were collected by interested fishermen. After a long break, fishermen set out in a number of high-speed boats for fishing on Tuesday evening itself and were followed by other fishermen in mechanised boats.  This happend, despite the district administration’s warning not to fish in the sea without obtaining tokens and before the end of the  45 day ban period. Devadas, president of the Fishermen Cooperative Society, Rameswaram, said that the fishermen had set out for fishing early out of enthusiasm and hence, should be excused for their actions.N J Bose, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Coastal Mechanised Boats Fishermen Association, said that the fishermen ventured into the sea with hopes of a getting a good catch after a  very long break. However, fishermen from  the areas of Thondi, Keelakarai and Cinna Erwadi promptly collected their tokens from the officials of the Ramanathapuram Fisheries Department.District Revenue Officer (DRO) Jayaraman said that a meeting was conducted with the fishermen, who were instructed to follow the government norms.  However, many of  the fishermen violated the norms. Therefore, action will be taken against the fishermen through the Fisheries Department, the DRO added.