Summary:
As of now, the fisheries sector comes under ministries of agriculture, commerce, shipping and external affairs. Malladi Krishna Rao, minister for fisheries, Puducherry , said since there was no dedicated ministry for fisheries, the sector was not being considered with sensitivity and proper importance. Fisheries officials of the south Indian states arrived at a consensus for demanding the Centre to give the authority to the states to provide fishing rights beyond the territorial waters of 12 nautical miles. “We have been discussing this issue and we will raise it in the Parliament also,” said state fisheries minister J Mercykutty Amma. “Kerala has already implemented the MLS for 58 fish species to ban juvenile fishing..