HYDERABAD: With self-imposed lockdown in villages across Telangana, almost all the lakes and reservoirs are thriving with fish, but the fishing sector has been hit badly. Fearing the pandemic, fishermen are barely casting their nets, impacting the overall sale of fish.According to officials, the harvesting season is between February and June, but most fishermen are avoiding venturing out for fishing in lakes and reservoirs. During normalcy, 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of fish is harvested during the period, but it has been brought down to less than 50 per cent of that in the State.
The fishermen who are casting their nets are following all the Covid-19 guidelines to avert any risks of getting infected by the virus. “As it requires a group of 50-100 people to harvest, given the self-imposed lockdown in villages, most of them are avoiding it. Even if there is sufficient water in 70 per cent of the water bodies, the only harvesting work is being taken up at smaller lakes, where the water is getting dried up,” said V Srinivas, Joint Director of Fisheries Department.
Local consumption dropped by 30-40 per cent
The sale of fish witnessed a downward trend as April began. The sales in Hyderabad which was about 200 tonnes was reduced to 70 to 80 tonnes, a 30-40 per cent drop in sales. Besides this, the produce which was being shipped to other States including West Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala was stopped as wholesale markets have been impacted.
“In the first Covid-19 wave, the sales weren’t much impacted, as selling points were set-up near the lake and people staying nearby bought the fish. The second wave is proving deterrent and discouraging everyone,” Srinivas said.In 2019-20, the State witnessed maximum stocking of fish seeds compared to earlier years.
Around 15,715 water bodies were stocked with more than 64 crore fish seeds at an expenditure of `46.63 crore.