KOCHI: The mood has been upbeat at fishing harbours as fishermen have been getting a good catch for the past couple of days.
However, the prices crashed due to heavy landings, leaving them in deep distress. The indefinite strike launched by fish meal industries owners in Mangaluru has deepened the crisis as fishermen are solely dependant on the internal market.
According to All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators Association general secretary Joseph Xavier Kalappurackal, fishing boats operating from Kochi harbour have been getting good catch, but tumbling prices are spelling doom for them.
“The season’s trends are promising as we are getting bumper catch compared to the past eight months. Price of cuttlefish, which used to fetch Rs 400 per kg, has crashed to Rs 240 while the shrimp variety known as ‘karikkadi, which fetched Rs 140 per kg, is being sold at a meagre Rs 30 per kg.
Only squid is fetching a reasonable price. We are not sure if middlemen are trying to hold the prices down. But the government should bring a system to ensure a minimum price for important fish verities to save the fishing community from debt trap,” he said.
Sources said boatmen had to dump a part of their threadfin bream catch in the sea as there were no takers. “We have never encountered such a situation during the past decade. This is unprecedented. We are getting anchovy, trevally, threadfin bream and lizardfish, but none of them is fetching good prices,” said Xavier. The fishing boats are also facing shortage of ice at the harbours, he said.
“The government should start procurement centres with cold storage facility at important harbours to ensure reasonable prices to fishermen. This also provides employment opportunity to women belonging to the community,” said Kerala Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedi president Charles George.
“The season seems to be encouraging compared to the previous year. A mudbank, known as chakara in Kerala, has been reported in Ponnani while there has been a good landing of mackerel at Munambam. Traditional fishermen are getting sardine also. The recent bout of rain has brought nutrients to the sea which might have attracted more fish to coastal waters,” said Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute(CMFRI) principal scientist K Sunil Mohamed.
Fishing boat fined for juvenile fishing
The Marine Enforcement Wing of the Fisheries Department in Ernakulam district detained a mechanised boat named ‘Eloi’ on Saturday morning on charges of juvenile fishing and imposed a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh on Antony Vijay Mendez, the owner. A patrolling teal consisting of Assistant Director of Fisheries Joice Abraham, inspector C Rajeev Kumar, CPOs Subeesh and Siju seized the boat and auctioned the fish worth Rs 35,000 found in the boat. The juvenile fish will be destroyed.