Fishermen cry foul as govt fails to release diesel subsidy for past five months

Mangaluru: Karnataka state has been facing financial issues for quite some time now due to which the Fisheries department has been forced to delay the release of diesel subsidies to the owners of fishing boats.

The delay in release of subsidy has only added to the troubles of the fishermen who are reeling under loss.

As per sources subsidies have not been released to fishermen since last November. Usually, these boats undertake three trios on a monthly basis and require around 15000 litres of diesel, of which government gives a subsidy for only 9,000 litres.

This delay along with the below-expected fish catch has created financial troubles for the fishermen.

There are over 1,200 trawler owners of whom only 30 percent of them are active in deep-sea fishing at present.