KOCHI: The villages of Valiyathodu and Pallithodu, nestled on the Ernakulam-Alappuzha border, are home to a unique fishing tradition that has been practised for several decades. Here, all members of local families gather for the ‘pothuveechu’ or ‘community fishing’.
In the wee hours, women wade into the water, submerging themselves in the cool depths with their fishing vessels or net baskets in hand. The men, meanwhile, spread out the fishing nets. Some teenagers, too, join the family expedition.
This tradition of pothuveechu is also observed in places such as Chellanam, Edavanakkad, Kumbalangi, and Thuravoor, where paddy fields are used for rotational pisciculture. Though paddy cultivation has dwindled in recent times, these wetland fields continue to be used for fish or prawn farming, mostly on a contract basis.
As the lease period nears its end, the contractors open up the fields for pothuveechu, allowing the locals to grab their catch. However, these villagers should hand over a portion of their catch to the farm contractor — one-third of the fish and half of the prawns. They sell the remaining catch in the nearby markets or households.
For veteran fisherman Bendis, who has been practising this tradition for over 70 years, pothuveechu is a way of life. “It is something he started doing as a child,” he says. Pothuveechu goes on between 2am and 7am. After that, they head off to their daily jobs. Uma, for instance, rushes to some nearby houses to work as a domestic help. Her husband, Binu, carries on with his painting job. Pothuveechu is more than just a way of catching fish. It is an age-old connection between the locals and their environment, they say.