The Supreme Court has sought the Tamil Nadu government’s response to a plea alleging that the state imposed a fresh blanket ban on purse seine fishing despite an earlier order allowing the activity beyond its territorial waters under specified conditions.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe described the issue as serious and directed the state to file its reply within two weeks. The bench also indicated that a government secretary would be called before it to explain the notification and questioned whether the state had exceeded the scope of the court’s directions.
Purse seine fishing uses a vertical net attached to a vessel to encircle schools of fish in open water. The fishermen’s plea, represented by advocate Jaya Sukin, said the state issued a notification on September 9 completely banning the method, shortly after the Supreme Court’s September 2 order allowed purse seine fishing subject to conditions.
The petitioners alleged that Tamil Nadu had deliberately violated the September 2 order even though representatives of the state and its fisheries director were members of the expert committee that accepted the committee’s final report on purse seine fishing. The state government’s position, as recorded in the proceedings, is that vessels may use purse seine nets in territorial waters while travelling towards the Exclusive Economic Zone, raising concerns that fishing intended for the EEZ could also take place within 12 nautical miles of the coast.
On September 2, the Supreme Court had criticised what it described as an unwritten ban created by Tamil Nadu’s failure to issue access passes to fishermen using purse seine nets in the Centre’s EEZ. It said the Union and state governments must follow the principle of cooperative federalism and held that the rights and liabilities of the parties would be governed by relevant laws, the EEZ Rules, 2025, and the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Rules, 2020.
The court also directed Tamil Nadu to frame rules or regulations designating a specific channel under Rules 15(5) and 15(6) of the Marine Fishing Regulation Rules, 2020. The channel would allow vessels to pass through the state’s territorial waters to reach the EEZ for purse seine fishing. The court noted that 226 of 257 applications submitted by fishermen were still pending verification by the state.
An expert panel formed by the Supreme Court had said purse seine nets did not cause major environmental harm to fish stocks in the relevant maritime zones. It did not recommend an outright blanket ban but called for effective regulation. The court also said permission should be given only to boats fitted with an approved vessel tracking system, which must remain operational while the vessels are being used.
The dispute has been before the Supreme Court for several years. In January 2023, the court conditionally allowed purse seine fishing beyond Tamil Nadu’s territorial waters and within the Centre’s EEZ. It noted that Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Goa and West Bengal did not impose similar restrictions on the method within their territorial waters. On August 4, the court had said fishermen should be allowed to fish beyond the state’s territorial waters, within the EEZ and with due permission.
The Supreme Court has now asked Tamil Nadu to respond to the allegation that its September 9 notification went beyond the earlier directions. The state’s reply is due within two weeks.
