Kerala's fisheries sector will observe a hartal on January 22, protesting against the implementation of the B Meenakumari Committee Report.
The report has recommended allowing foreign trawlers to carry out fishing operations beyond 12 nautical miles of Indian territorial waters.
The Kerala Fisheries Coordination Committee, which is spearheading the agitation, has decided to blockade the Cochin estuary on the hartal day with the support of traditional fishermen who will arrive with country boats and mechanised boats to lay siege preventing the movement of ships to Kochi port.
According to Joseph Xavier Kalappurackal, General Secretary, All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators' Association, the blockade will mark the culmination of a series of protests organised by the fishermen coordination committee against the report since the beginning of the New Year.
He told BusinessLine that they are planning to organise even an all-India bandh in February in this regard, if the authorities turned down the demand of the association.