After 61-Days of Fishing Ban, Fishermen Back into Action Resuming Fishing Activities Today (1 September) -even though the 61-days ban on deep-sea fishing ended on 31 July, the fishermen didn’t resume fishing activities due to Covid-19 pandemic. Even though the fishing activity should have started in full swing, due to labourers shortage, many boats will not venture into the sea for few more days.
Mangaluru : The Bunder fishing dock area is once again back in action with fishermen gearing up for fishing. After the 61-day ban on fishing ended on 31 July, the fishermen did not resume to fishing activities due to Covid-19 , but once again they are buzzing with activity, getting ready for deep-sea fishing as of today, 1 September. . The government had banned fishing in deep sea trawlers, purse seine and mechanized boats for 61-days in the west coast.. But Country boats with less than 10 HP outboard engines have been carrying out fishing even during the ban period. The ban period had been in force under Karnataka Coastal Fishing (Regulation) Act, 1986. Since monsoon is the season for fish and they lay eggs along the coast during the season- so the ban.
Although the fishing season has started again, the Coast Guard has urged the community to take precautionary measures. The Coast Guard has urged fishermen to undertake seaworthiness checks of their boats in a systematic manner. Special community interaction programmes with the fishing community would be organized to sensitize them on safety aspects. Special instructions from the coast guard are : The fishermen should check weather forecasts, carry distance alerting transmitters, radio communication equipment, life saving appliances, documents of boats, Biometric identity cards, additional mobile phones/batteries, temporary repair kits, first aid kit, extra fuel and ration, flashlights with additional batteries and necessary medicines while venturing into sea.
Fishing boats should operate either in pairs or groups. Coast Guard Karnataka has also requested all merchant ships and dhows to follow the laid down SOPs (standard operating procedures). The masters of the merchant vessels should ensure sea worthiness of their vessels. They should also ensure even loading and proper securing of the cargo. Frequent rounds of the ships should be undertaken. Maintenance and upkeep of the machinery and propulsion systems should be undertaken as per schedule. The second anchor and chain cable should be kept standby in case of the merchant vessels at anchorage.
More than the roughness of the sea during monsoon season, the main reason for the 61-day ban was environmental since it is the breeding season for fish and they lay eggs along the coast during the season. Hence, most of the fish will be along the coast during the period and easily fall prey to the trawler boats. The reckless fishing during monsoon will adversely affect fishing in the later months. During this ban period, the fishermen work on the boats, paint them, check for any maintenance, repairing nets etc etc.
Swachh gone for a Toss! Filth and Garbage seen at the Bunder Dock Area
Sources reveal that Karnataka has 5.93 lakh hectares of inland water resources, 8,000 hectare of brackish water and 320 km of coastline with 27,000 sq. km of continental shelf. The State has nearly 18,000 fishing boats and trawlers with 3.28 lakh people being employed in the fishing industry. Karnataka is ranked sixth in marine fish production in India (about 5.55 lakh tonnes every year). According to available statistics, there are 1483 gill-net boats,1270 trawl and 57 purse seine boats, 549 non-mechanized boats and 150 traditional boats in Mangaluru.The labourers are engaged in filling the ice into the boats and keeping ready the nets and other fishing aid to catch the fish. Most of these labourers are from Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu, Odisha and other states.
But due to Covid lockdown, many of these labourers had gone to their native places, which resulted in postponing the commencement of fishing. Many of these labourers are yet to return to Mangaluru. And also due to Covid-19 protocol of tests, home quarantine etc, many of these labourers are reluctant to return, said a boat owner, who is facing a tough time finding local labourers. Even though there are strict orders from the government to follow the Covid-19 norms of social distancing and wearing face masks- but looking at the scene at the Bunder dock, 90% of the people there are flouting such rules. Hardly anyone is wearing face masks, and social distancing has gone for a toss. Once the trawl boats that stay in the deep-sea for six-ten days require 6,000 litres of diesel, in addition to over 400 boxes of ice. Further, grocery is also kept in stock on the boat for preparing their meals, in addition to around 8,000 litres of water. A trawler boat will have around 10-15 fishermen to carry on the fishing activity.
During the fishing ban, fish lovers had to shell out big bucks to buy their favorite fish, but now with the fishing back into business, fish consumers are hoping that the price of fish will come down in the next few days. During the ban period, since the fish was supplied to Mangaluru from Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh coast, the price of fish was high due to transportation cost. Mohammed Iqbal, a fish boat owner speaking to Team Mangalorean said, ” Fishing will be in full operation within 2-3 days. Few boats will venture into the sea later today, and many others will start operating in 2-3 days, depending on labourers. Presently fish is hauled into the city from other coastal regions. Once the fishing activity gets into full swing, and when the catch is good, surely the price of fish will come down drastically. Until then fish lovers have bear with us”.
