I am…Joseph Anthony

November 26, 2014 05:42 pm | Updated 05:42 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

Joseph AnthonyPhoto: Liza George

Joseph AnthonyPhoto: Liza George

Occupation: Fisherman

I just got back from the sea on my catamaran by myself. The catch was rather dismal this morning. I will go back later. This catch will mostly be for home. I started my day today at 6 a.m. and returned to shore by 10 a.m. I had just a cup of tea in the morning. Most mornings I don’t have breakfast as I am at sea.

See this net I am folding? Look at the weights weaved into it at the edges. This is so that the net will fall and cling to the depths of the sea. We use this kind of net when fishing close to the shoreline.

This wooden catamaran is 10 years old. I bought it in Tamil Nadu. One needs to protect the boat from rain and moisture. That is why, after use, we cover our boats with plastic sheets. If anything happens to our boat, we are dependent on the two boat repairmen in the neighbourhood. I have another smaller catamaran which I will use later to travel deeper into the sea. The net I use will be bigger then. There are different nets for different kinds of fish.

There is no fixed time for us to travel into sea. The sun, moon, tide and weather influence fish activity. Fish usually tend to feed more at sunrise and sunset. During a full moon, tides are higher and fish tend to feed more. The best fishing times are when the fish are feeding. We are not dependent on weather forecasts; we can tell the weather by reading the sea and the sky.

As we grew up by the sea, my father being a fisherman, we know when to go out to sea and also the kind of fish that we will be likely to catch that day based on mostly the moon. For instance, today, when I go into sea in the afternoon, I might catch aavoli [pomfret], paara [Malabar trevally] and choora [tuna]. If the catch is good, wholesalers will buy it, else locals and those from the city who are looking for fresh catch will buy it. Profits are marginal; just enough to get me and my family by.

I studied till class two since I was a poor student. I started out as a helper on my father’s boat. As a helper, I learnt how to handle the oars, how to clean the nets after a catch, how to mend nets and the like. I must have been 10 or 12 years old then. I am 64 years old now. I worked in West Asia for a few years as a fisherman and used the money earned to buy my boats.

Very few youngsters use the catamaran to fish these days as it involves a lot of hard work. It is also rather scary as a single, powerful wave can destroy your boat. See those big boats there? They work on motor. The fishermen on those boats drop a huge net which circles the area close to shore. We don’t fish there then as there is a chance of our nets getting entangled.

Once I was lost at sea for a day. I was out fishing when strong winds and waves pushed me deep into sea. I finally ended up at a place beyond Puthenthope. I called my family when I reached shore. My family and neighbours sent rescue teams out to sea but no one could find me. The standard practice is that if a fisherman goes missing, there will be a search party looking for him for three days.

Life by the sea is not easy these days. There is less fish to catch now as boats with machines to catch fish are affecting our daily bread. They catch more fish in a day than we do in a year. They also catch fry which affects the life cycle of the fish.

Garbage is also a problem; plastic being a major menace as it gets caught in our nets and blocks our catch.

In the water, every decision is one of survival. Mistakes can be deadly. We need to know the sea, the way it changes and how these changes affect our boat, gear and the fish.

Sunday is a day of rest and I spend it with my wife, my daughter and her family. My daughter, Josephine, has studied till class 12. She is industrious. She stitches, dries fish, designs umbrellas… She is now attending a beautician course.

My son, Justin, is a fisherman like me but lives elsewhere. I don’t like watching television or going to the movies. Instead, I spend my free time, which is rare, with friends. We gather by the beach and chat. The sea is my life. As long as I am physically able, I will always answer the call of the sea.

(A weekly column on men and women who make Thiruvananthapuram what it is)

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