Thanks to the recent rains, the tanks and lakes around the city are brimming not just with water but also fish life. It’s the best time to take out the fishing rods or buy or even make one and head to the water bodies. Taking the opportunity, nature loving youngsters have joined hands to form Kayal Naatu Meenkal and Meenavar Vazhviyal Aaivu Naduvam, a forum for research and activity on native fish varieties and livelihood and fishing techniques of fishermen.
Under the banner, they organised a fishing festival ‘Thoondil Thiruvizha’, in which over 50 adults and children from various walks of life participated and tried out fishing. During the event, the group visited half a dozen tanks around Thirumangalam, starting from the Rayapalayam Oorni to the Mela Urappanur Kanmoi. “The idea is to reintroduce fishing among the people. Fishing is an art, a livelihood and a leisure activity. Over the years, water bodies have vanished under encroachments or have gone dry due to failure of rains and we forgot fishing,” says Azhagu Ravichandran, Coordinator for Kayal, who has an experience of 25 years in fishing.
“Earlier, in the dry districts of Madurai, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar, it was common to depend on fishing whenever crops failed. It was next only to agriculture as a source of food. The rural pockets around Madurai are dotted with lakes which hold good number of freshwater fish,” says N. Raveendran, a member. Events such as these give an experience of fishing in the natural environment and educate about the native varieties, says J. Mohammed Thameem, a fishing enthusiast. “I used to regularly go fishing with friends. This year, we fished at the Vandiyur Tank and the Vaigai.”
Highlighting the need to preserve native fish varieties, Sridhar Nedunchezhian, says, “Sangam Literature records over 150 varieties of fish in the Vaigai basin. But researchers believe that hardly 15 to 20 of those are left today.” “What we find in the market these days are either sea fish or the ones that are bred in fish farms using fertilizers.” Some of the fish native to the region are the Vatta, Paal, pambu and Koona Kendai, Ayirai, Aara, Uluvai, around 21 varieties of Viral, Kuravi and Nari and Manjal Keluthi. Vilangu and Aara are said to have become rare.
The event also brought to light the various techniques used by local fishermen. “We have a range of indigenous fishing equipment, which was made of natural materials like bamboo sticks, cotton threads or fibre from the Aloe Vera plant,” says Azhagu Ravichandran. Meena Valai (nets made of cotton thread), Kottu Pori (baskets made of bamboo), Paanai Pori (Mud pots with palm strands used for catching fish in running water), Thoori, thelli and Thoondil (various kinds of fishing rods), are some of the native fishing techniques. “The methods differ according to the fish we intend to catch. For example, the viral meen can be caught only by using a kendai fish on the hook. The rod needs to much smaller and is usually fixed on the banks of the tank, instead of a person holding it.”
A demo on making a perfect fishing rod was also conducted. Kayal plans to continue regular fishing events at various water bodies in the city.
