Fishermen could be Indian Coast’s eyes and ears

MANGALORE: Fishermen, if accredited with a national security agency and trained, could give a fillip to India’s sea-watch. This is all the more important in the light of the recent attack on Mumbai which came by sea.

DNA Mangalore visited the coastal villages and talked to fishermen on their experiences and threat perception.

Sanjiv Kanchan, a fishermen operating from the Karnataka coast, is the only fisherman to have taken his boat and crew 100meters (some 60 nautical miles) deep inside the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from Mangalore, on fishing expeditions.

Kanchan said, “Many times we come across scores of foreign crafts; some of them are foreign-registered fishing vessels which could be identified by their “bull features”. They are not supposed to fish inside the 200-kilometer Indian Exclusive Economic Zone. But when we object, they brandish fire arms at us.”

“We,” he continued, “rarely see any Coast Guard vessel even though we know there are high-speed patrol boats, Coast Guard search and rescue vessels, but we alone face the rogue bull trawlers of foreign origin.”

He wanted to know where these guys are when we most want them, and why the Indian government never cared for its EEZ when other countries are very zealous about their sea wealth.

Kanchan says there are horror tales to be told on the wanton violence the fisherfolks face everyday on the high seas. Only when terror strikes, some begin patrolling and that too for a few days, he rued.

Robert is another veteran fisherman, whose gnarled hands and wizened face, have seen and survived many terrors.

He narrates how India’s coast remains bared for adventurers to invade. To pose as fishermen is easy and the Indian authorities hardly make an honest attempt to protect the genuine fisherfolks, he complains.