Even before the monsoon has properly arrived in West Bengal, Bengalis can already smell hilsa. After a two-month ban, fishing trawlers are heading back into the Bay of Bengal to bring hilsa to the table, and this time they are using technology from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
What the devices do
Satellite-based maritime safety assistant system devices, or transponders, have been installed on hilsa trawlers. They work in the deep sea where mobile networks do not.
- Any distress signal can be sent from the deep sea to the coast.
- The device sends an alert to the trawler if it crosses from Indian waters into Bangladesh's waters.
- It can also indicate where shoals of hilsa are located deep in the Bay of Bengal.
More than 300 trawlers in the Kakdwip subdivision of South 24 Parganas have been fitted with the devices, as well as some trawlers in the Sundarbans coastal area at Namkhana, Frasergunj, Patharpratima and Raidighi.
Safety measures
As every year, the West Bengal fisheries department banned all sea fishing from 15 April to 14 June for the breeding of hilsa and other marine fish. Each fisher has been given life insurance, and each trawler will carry 15 fishers, according to fishers' organisations. Announcements at the ports urge fishers to wear life jackets and stay in contact with the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, which will send rescuers in an emergency.
South 24 Parganas assistant fisheries officer Sujit Bag told Jagonews24 that trawlers are leaving in phases from Sunday and Monday under strict monitoring. Bijan Maity, joint secretary of the West Bengal United Fishermen Association, said not all trawlers will go at once because catches have been poor at the start of recent seasons. Fishers hope ISRO's help will bring bigger catches this year, though rules apply: the mesh must be 90 mm and fish smaller than 23 cm may not be caught.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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