The fate of open auction centres planned by the Fisheries Department at Puthiyappa and Beypore harbours to help local buyers get fresh fish varieties at a cheap rate is still hanging in balance. Many small buyers who arrive at the harbours are giving up fast as they are unable to withstand the tactics of wholesale traders.
Though a few local fishers are handling the bulk auctioning of small quantity fish in the harbours, they limit the options to cheaper varieties such as mackerel and sardine. Costly fishes such as seer fish or pomfret are never auctioned, and the actual trade flourishes off the coast among various agents for better margin.
“It is possible to get five to 10 kg of fresh mackerel at a cheap rate here. But a small family hardly needs such a huge quantity. We need a facility to get small quantities of fish at affordable rates,” says Sivadasan, a native of Athanikkal who often visits the harbours. He points out that families that buy lesser quantity of fish are dependent on local fish traders who charge an unfair sum even for old stock.
The conventional style of auctioning by leaving the whole stock on the stinking floor is also driving away many small quantity buyers from the city harbours. Both the Puthiyappa and Beypore harbours have only limited facilities to hygienically conduct auctioning. It was after noticing such an unhealthy trade that the Fisheries Department decided to set up open auction centres in 2014.
Many local buyers also say that the retail traders are not happy with the entry of outsiders to the auction hall and the purchase of fish at cheap rates. They also suspect a hidden alliance between some local fishers and local vendors to spoil auctions where the public will have an upper hand.
Similarly, the plan to open a restaurant eyeing the connoisseurs of fried fish delicacies at Puthiyappa harbour is in cold storage. Initially, the plan was to entrust the project with the Kerala State Coastal Area Development Corporation. However, the project, which was earlier proposed by Elathur MLA A.K. Saseendran, failed to take off because of bureaucratic hitches.
Meanwhile, department sources say the projects are still alive as they have been approved by the Central Institute of Coastal Engineering for Fishery. They have been submitted to the Union government for financial help, they add.
