The fishermen in the state were a badly affected lot owing to the state-wide hartal on Thursday. Almost all the trawling boats had set out into the seas following the lift of the 47-day-long trawling ban on Tuesday.
But much to the dismay of the fishermen returning to the land after a huge haul, the catch could not be transported anywhere.
Even those boats which were rewarded with a good draught as early as Wednesday afternoon were unable to return to the land with the prospect of the hartal looming large.
“We got a draught of about 3 tonnes of ‘killimeen’ (threadfin bream) on Wednesday afternoon. On our way back, about 25 kilometres off the Kerala coast, we received the message that it would be a hartal on Thursday. Since there are no buyers after 6 pm, we did not take the risk of bringing the catch to the harbour. Now we are forced with the option of waiting till Friday,” said F Angelos, owner of St James boat, Munambam.
On Wednesday, fish that usually cost around `20 a kg was sold at `120 to `160. All the trawling boats out in the seas, laden with the catch, are expected to return en mass on Friday, leading to an excess supply in the market.
“Not only would there be a wastage of the catch, but also a shortage of labour, vehicles and ice to preserve the fish,” said K Peter, president of Kerala Independent Fish Workers Federation.
The issue of preserving the catch is a problem faced even by those boats out at the seas.
“Most boats do not store enough ice to preserve tonnes of fish for so long. We will have to return all the way back to the land if we need more ice,” said fisherman Angelos.
“The smaller trawling boats, are the most affected by the hartal. The bigger boats going to the outer seas have enough storage capacity and will return only after five to ten days,” said Joseph Xavier, General Secretary of All Kerala Boat Operators’ Association.
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