The high premium of various marine insurance schemes continues to be a distressing concern for lower income group fishers and boat owners in the district. Though many of them are offered personal life insurance at low premium, such schemes are not available for their boats and other fishing equipment.
Boat owners at Beypore say they never approach any insurance company for the purpose as it will finally end up in investing their whole annual profit for the security purpose alone. Around ₹3 lakh to ₹6 lakh will have to be invested for getting insurance for fishing boats depending on its size, and it is not a viable option for anyone when the whole the fisheries sector is walking a tightrope.
“The boat owners individually meet the cost of repairing in most of the cases as they have no other alternatives. Partial damage is the biggest headache as it will never be taken up seriously by any government agencies or the Fisheries department,” says Karichal Preman, leader of the Beypore Harbour Development Committee. Unexpected damage of fishing equipment comes as an additional financial burden where no relief measures are in place now, he says.
Abdul Nasser, a fisherman from Puthiyappa harbour, says the compensation declared by the government for the fishers whose boats were damaged by Cyclone Ockhi is yet to reach the beneficiaries.
“Whenever we contact the Fisheries Department office, they say the list is now with the State government and it will have to be cleared first to begin the distribution process,” he laments.
Costly repair
Mr. Nasser points out that many boat owners are trying to postpone the repairing works as it will cost them dear during lean seasons. For the small-scale fishers who usually hire private boats for fishing, the pending boat maintenance is a matter of big concern and it actually leaves them jobless for months, he adds.
Meanwhile, Fisheries Department officials clarify that they have already completed all the technical works associated with the distribution of compensation for the fishers and the funds will be distributed after getting clearance from the government. They also point out that fishers from Kozhikode district are fortunate as they had not suffered any severe damage in the cyclone.
Their claims can be met completely with the expected relief fund, they add.
