The government's move to allow more deep-sea fishing has created a glut of responses as 334 applicants vie for 30 licences to be awarded for mid-water trawling in the Bay of Bengal, said officials of the fisheries ministry said.

It means 11 aspirants have lined up to win one licence on average. Some of the hopefuls are leaders of the ruling Awami League, including some lawmakers, the officials said.

The huge response this time has prompted the fisheries authority to go for strict scrutiny. It has asked the applicants to send in their profiles and specifications of the trawlers they want to use for fishing in the Bay.

''We will scrutinise all applications on the basis of the information filed by the senders and suggest steps to the higher authority,'' said Md Mahbubur Rahman Khan, acting director general of the Department of Fisheries (DoF), to The Daily Star.

The fisheries authority has asked all aspirants to submit their information by July 19. In mid-February, the government sought applications to award 30 licences for mid-water trawling.

This is the second time since 2002 that the fisheries authority planned to allow increased fishing in the Bay of Bengal putting aside the recommendations of an expert committee.

The committee, during the previous tenure of the Awami League government, suggested conducting a survey of the existing marine reserve before awarding any further permission for fishing in the sea.

The BNP-led government bypassed the recommendation first in 2002, and issued 50 licences for marine fishing, including 10 for mid-water trawling. Most of these passes later changed hands several times in exchange of cash before landing with genuine fishing companies.

Industry insiders said such an instance of easy rent-seeking has created application frenzy, as the number of aspirants this time has far outpaced the number of submissions during the BNP tenure.

Nearly 90 applications were dropped at that time for 50 licences, the insiders added.

The officials involved in the process said the authority has doubled the limit of non-refundable funds to Tk 50,000 from Tk 25,000 during the BNP regime to discourage such applications.

It also maintains a provision that winners of licences would not be able to hand over the permissions within one and a half years.

The scramble for getting licences goes on at a time when overexploitation by 44,000 fishing boats and more than 150 trawlers causes depletion of fish resources in the Bay, according to experts.

Catches of fishermen and deepwater fishing trawlers already record a downturn, fishermen and trawling firms told The Daily Star earlier.

Khan said the higher number of fishing and mechanised boats is mainly responsible for the dwindling marine stock.

Source Daily stat: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=193972