more-in Distribution of welfare assistance, seminar on sustainable fishing and competitions for school students on preservation of marine resources marked the celebration of World Fisheries Day on Tuesday. At a function organised at the Fisheries Department office here, Additional Director of Fisheries G.S. Sameeran distributed solatium of ? Two lakh each to two beneficiaries Muthumari and Megala from Nambuthalai, under the fishermen accident insurance scheme. He also distributed ?One lakh to a beneficiary from Puthanendal and ?50,000 to a fisherman from Thondi. Addressing the function, Collector S. Natarajan said a majority of the people depended on fishing after agriculture in the district and the government was extending all assistance to the fishermen for sustainable fishing. Pointing that the Rameswaram fishing jetty was too congested with about 800 trawlers, he said the opening of new fishing harbours at Mookaiyur and Kunthukal would not only help to decongest the fishing jetty but wean away the fishermen to deep sea fishing. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unveiled the subsidised deep sea fishing project under the blue revolution scheme, the Fisheries department was taking effective steps to provide long liners, each costing at ?80 lakh with beneficiary contribution of ?8 lakh. The Centre provided 50% (?40 lakh) subsidy and the State government, 20% (?16 lakh) and the beneficiaries would be helped to raise 20% (?16 lakh) institutional finance, he said. In a function at Pamban, the Reliance Foundation organised a seminar on sustainable fishing, use of safety equipment and awareness programme on banned fishing nets and destructive fishing methods. The foundation offered to provide weather information to the fishermen in their mobile phones. At Thangachimadam, drawing, essay and oratorical competitions were organised for the wards of fishermen on sustainable fishing and preservation of marine resources, Mr Sameeran said. The Central Marine Fisheries Research Centre and Tamil Nadu Fisheries University also organised programmes in connection with the World Fisheries Day, he added.

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