Kerala's seafood export companies get that sinking feeling

Though the stir by mechanised fishing boat owners ended on Thursday, it has led to major losses to the seafood industry, as seafood exports were paralysed.
Image for representational purpose only.
Image for representational purpose only.

KOCHI: And on the eighth day, they called off the strike. But not before the seafood industry suffered a crucial blow. Though the stir by mechanised fishing boat owners ended on Thursday, it has led to major losses to the seafood industry, as seafood exports were paralysed and food processing units operated by various exporting companies were forced to halt their functioning for a week. Kerala State Fishing Boat Operators’ Association president Joseph Xavier Kalappurackal said the losses suffered by the sector due to the strike amounted to Rs 300 crore.

The agitation by boat owners came as the third major blow to the export sector in four months. In November last year, a week-long strike by container lorry operators caused exporters to lose Rs 250 crore. The first week of December saw cyclone Ockhi shatter not only the dreams of fishermen and their families but also the business opportunities for seafood exporters. The boat owners’ stir, though over, also did its damage.

“The present situation is almost similar to the Ockhi disaster. The only difference is there is no cyclone,” said Alex Ninan of Baby Marine International, who is also president of the Kerala chapter of Seafood Exporters Association of India.

“There are nearly 100 seafood exporters in the state which together employ hundreds of people, mainly women. We demand an immediate intervention of the government to solve the agitation and end the crisis faced by a sector that brings foreign exchange to the state,” he said.

Around 5,000 fishing boat operators and workers had launched the indefinite strike last Thursday and stopped venturing into the sea in protest against the Fisheries Department action against fishermen over juvenile fishing. Boat owners and workers have been on the warpath since the department seized two boats on February 4 on charges of juvenile fishing.

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The New Indian Express
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