Days of penury: Fishermen demand special package for

State, Union govts should intervene to bail out sector, say unions; present measures not satisfactory owing to impending trawling ban

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The fishing sector, which is in the slow lane ever since the Covid-19 lockdown was announced, has resumed activities by following conditions like social distancing and odd-even scheme. But for the fisherfolk, the rejuvenation measures are far from satisfactory considering the approaching annual trawling ban. They are of the demand that a special relief package for the sector will have to be announced by the centre/state governments. 

“Ever since the lockdown, the fishing sector is in shambles. The fishing activities were carried out in a limited manner. But with relaxations in place it was decided to expand the activities in two phases,” said an officer of the Fisheries Department. As per an order released by the department on April 30, fishing activities are allowed to resume from May 1 with conditions like reducing the number of fishermen, practising social distancing, introducing the odd-even scheme and adherence to one-day fishing. 

Meanwhile, T Peter of National Fishworkers’ Forum said that the restrictions imposed while resuming fishing activities were unilateral and the fisher community was not taken into confidence. “Some stipulations like alternative day fishing and single-day fishing are unacceptable. A discussion is needed regarding this. Also, the fishers in penury will have to be provided with a special relief package,” said Peter. 

At the same time, Peter Mathias of All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators’ Association said that even if the fishing activities resume, a number of mechanised boats will get docked at the harbours due to unavailability of crew. 

“The crew of the boats are mainly Tamilians from Nagercoil, Thuckalay, Colachel and Kanyakumari. But due to the ban on interstate travel, they couldn’t reach here. Even within the state, the movement of fishermen is limited due to the absence of a public transport system,” said Mathias. To bail out the sector, a special package has to be announced. This package should also allocate a sum for conducting maintenance of mechanised fishing boats.

Stipulations for resuming fishing activities

• Boat seine (Thattumadi)& shore seine (Karamadi) allowed from May 1
• For boat seine, a maximum of five fishermen allowed in each of the two boats of 32 feet 
• For shore seine, a maximum of 12 fishermen allowed on either end of the nets 
• Fishermen to keep a distance of one metre from one another 
• Boats having an overall length of 32 feet and above and up to 45 feet can engage in single-day fishing with a maximum of seven fishermen 
•  From May 4, mechanised boats with an overall length of 45 feet and up to 65 feet are allowed to operate 
•  For that odd-even scheme introduced for mechanised/ring seiners/inboard and traditional vessels 
•  Boats with registration numbers ending in odd numbers to ply on Monday, Wednesday and Friday 
•  Those ending in even numbers on places where Friday remains a holiday, boats ending with odd number could operate on Sunday