Roughly 25 percent of the Indian State of Kerala's fishing boat fleet will have to be phased out to prevent overcrowding the fishing fleet.
This recommendation came from an expert committee which was set up by the Department of Fisheries. The report found that there are an estimated 3,800 mechanised fishing vessels in Kerala, 1,000 of which have been recommended to be phased out. The report said that the vessels were simply not needed to catch the available fish.
The committee's aim was to estimate the optimum number of vessels needed for the fishing fleet for the exploitation of maximum harvestable marine fisheries resources in Kerala.
The committee examined each vessel's registration papers and recommended which vessels could be granted an extension without adversely affecting the sustainability of resources.