Udupi: Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, said on Friday that it was incumbent on fishermen to think about sustainable fishing.

He was speaking after inaugurating a workshop on ‘Fishing under Blue Revolution Policy’ organised by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute and Department of Fisheries, here.

Mr. Madhwaraj said fishing was an age-old profession. Though the fishermen in earlier times were not educated, they had developed certain guidelines with the long-term interests of fishing in mind.

But modernization, commercialization and mechanization was bringing fishing to the edge of extinction.

Though fishermen knew the instruction of marine scientists, they were not implementing it. “If fishermen do not take precautionary measures, the days of fish famine are not far away,” he said. Though he had been urging the fishermen to take up sustainable fishing for the last two decades, there was hardly any change in their mindset.

A clear fisheries policy could be enforced in the State, on the lines of the one in Kerala, only if there was unanimity between small and big fishermen here.

The subsidy on diesel for fishermen in January would be soon deposited into their bank accounts. As per the announcement made in the budget, fisherwomen will be able to get zero interest loans from April 1. Cold storage facility will be provided at the fish market here, he said.

He urged the Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh to call a meeting of fisheries ministers of all States in Bengaluru so that an uniform fisheries policy could be drawn. He assured that the State government will bear the cost of such a meeting. But there no response to his suggestion, Mr. Madhwaraj said.