Kakinada, Feb 26th: With the decision taken by the central government to make proposed Marine Fisheries (Regulation and Management) bill-2009 as act, nearly 500 fishermen of all coastal mandals in East Godavari district organized maha dharna at district collectorate here on Thursday demanding the government to withdraw the decision. With the stir becoming more intensified, the officials employed police personals to bring the situation into control. The fisherfolk including men and women raised slogans against the UPA government saying that their lives will be ruined if the bill becomes law.

According to a member of the Traditional fishermen’s association, Mr. N. Dharmarao, the bill passed by the government would confine the fishermen to 12 nautical miles for fishing into the deep sea. If any fisherman crosses the rules they would be fined up to Rs 9 lakh and jailed upto 3 years. He alleged that the fishermen could not catch the healthy fish unless they cross more than 100 nautical miles. Later members of the committee including the fishermen submitted memorandum to the district collector, Mr. Gopala Krishna Dwevedi.