NAGAPATTINAM: The two-month annual fishing ban in the Arabian Sea is bringing fish traders and marketers from Kerala to the Nagapattinam fishing harbour to procure fish. This has in turn become profitable for fishers in the TN coast, where fishing has just resumed after a two-month ban in the Bay of Bengal.
Fishers in coastal delta districts have been enjoying profitable trips to the sea since the annual fishing ban in the Bay of Bengal was lifted on June 14, and their catch is finding markets not just in Tamil Nadu but also neighbouring Kerala, from where traders have flocked to the Nagapattinam harbour over the past few weeks.
The annual fishing ban across the western coast including Kerala came into effect on June 1 and will last until July 31. With mechanised boats for deep-sea fishing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kozhikode and Thrissur districts in Kerala berthed at their respective harbours, traders, marketing agents and middlemen have camped in large numbers to buy fresh fish from the boats landing at Nagapattinam fishing harbours, from where tonnes of quantities of fish are transported in trucks to Kerala for sale in the domestic market as well as export.
Fish varieties such as Mackerel, Seer, Red Snapper, Pomfret, Barracuda and Trevally fetch good prices on Sundays when demand is the highest. Squid and prawns, predominantly caught in trawlers are also fetching good prices, and are exported to foreign countries through major ports in the western coast.
Nagapattinam fishers hope to make the most of the opportunity before the ban season in the Arabian sea comes to an end on July 31.