The Hindu : Front Page : Cuddalore fishermen back in business

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 30, 2005

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Cuddalore fishermen back in business

Ramya Kannan

Recovery possible due to combined efforts by Government and NGOs: Collector

CUDDALORE: For about five months after the December 26 tsunami, a pall of gloom hung over the Cuddalore port. The only fishermen there were those lazing in the shade of the damaged boats. Today, however, most of its original buzz has been restored and hectic activity indicates a revival of business.

Freshly painted fibre boats, with bellies full of fish, coast towards the jetty, ice machines crush ice blocks, women gather them in small aluminium buckets to sprinkle over the fresh catch and men shovel loads of fish into colourful boxes stacked on the docks.

Anwar, a labourer at the port, is loading the boxes into vans that will carry them across the borders to Karnataka and Kerala. At the port, which serves the fishing villages of Gori, Singarathoppu, Sonankuppan and Thevanampattinam, fishermen say that if the catch is good [as in the last 10 days], business is very good. "It could go up to Rs. 20-25 lakhs per day," says Murugesan from Sonankuppam. Each box of fish is sold at Rs. 300 and a boat could bring in about 20 boxes, he adds. Business is brisk in Annankoil and Killai ports as well.

Plentiful catch

Since nets are in short supply, a group of four or five boats share a net and split the proceeds of the sale among themselves. Even this way, he makes about Rs. 3,000 per day, says Gurunathar, a boat owner of Sonankuppam. "Business was better. But since we got back to sea during season time the catch is plentiful." Of course, there are hitches. For instance, news about water ingress inland disrupted fishing activity on Friday last, as fishermen pay credence to rumours, post-tsunami. "We went out yesterday, but the sea was really rough. So we had to return. On such days, there is no catch, no income," Gurunathar says matter of fact.

Prices of fish have dropped. The price tag of Rs. 2,000 a box has come down to Rs. 300. However, the fishermen hope it will go up as they move into peak season — June/July.

District Collector Gagandeep Singh Bedi says the mechanised trawlers have not yet gone out to sea, following a 45-day ban on trawler fishing in the east coast to protect breeding of fish. "When they do go out after the ban is lifted, on June 1, it will bring in more revenue for the fishermen, since the trawlers can go out much further than the catamarans or fibre boats."

Mr. Bedi credits the recovery to the combined efforts of the Government and non-governmental organisations in distributing boats, nets, fishing trays, subsidising ice plants and confidence-building measures for the community. Over the months, a sum of Rs. 9.1 crores has been disbursed by nationalised banks as loans for fishermen.

For the fishermen, however, the biggest morale booster is the feel of the boat's steering in their hands, the whirr of the motor, the sway of the boat on the waters and the plentiful catch filling up their crates.

Bhaskar says: "Now that we have this again, we can rebuild our community, instead of sitting idle and depending on the Government." The other fishermen pause in their tasks to nod their agreement.

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