India, July 30 -- The Government of India issued the following news release:
'Fisheries' is a State Subject. All coastal States and Union Territories (UTs) are issuing fishing licenses under their respective Marine Fishing Regulation Acts (MFRAs) and granting registration to fishing vessels under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, using the web enabled application called 'ReALCraft'. As on date, out of 31,045 registered mechanized Fishing vessels operating trawl Nets, 259 are the Fishing Vessels registered as operating the Drag Nets or Bottom Trawl Nets in Bay of Bengal and Arabian Coast. Bottom Trawling is a fishing method used only to catch the targeted benthic fishes and catch of Non-target species are reduced by the use of by-catch reduc...