Higher officials of Fisheries Department visited the fishing harbour on Tuesday and interacted with the producer associations following an indefinite strike here.
After failure of talks between the two warring associations _ Odisha Marine Fish Producers Association (OMFPA) and the Exporters Associations _ over proper marketing and fixing of rate for export of marine fish, irate activists of OMFPA had locked the main gate of the harbour, the previous day. The closure affects livelihood of 50,000 fishermen.
Joint Director (coastal) Urbasi Behera and Deputy Director (marine) P R Rout were here to take stock of the situation.
OMFPA president Sumant Kumar Biswal said they were forced to take the step after being humiliated by the exporters’ association.
The exporters’ association, he alleged, prevented potential buyers from entering Paradip which affected their sale in the open market.
OMFPA has submitted three demands _ selling of fish in an open market, compensation for the fish that had rotten since June 15 following the dispute which stalled the export process and fixing of rates of prawn as per the export grading norms.
Assistant Director (marine), Kujang, Rabinarayan Pattnaik said, the demands of the OMFPA would be forwarded to the authorities concerned and hoped normalcy would soon return to the fishing harbour.