Thoppumpady fishing harbour in Kochi faces uncertainty as new season begins

Harbour is located in Division 11 of Kochi Corporation where a lockdown is in place to contain COVID-19 spread

August 10, 2020 07:24 pm | Updated 07:29 pm IST - KOCHI

The Thoppumpady fishing harbour, the biggest in Kerala, is at a standstill as the lockdown continues in several parts of West Kochi.

The Thoppumpady fishing harbour, the biggest in Kerala, is at a standstill as the lockdown continues in several parts of West Kochi.

Activities at the Thoppumpady fishing harbour, Kerala’s biggest such facility, look likely to remain frozen as the mechanised sector across the State anticipates a new fishing season after the 52-day trawling ban, prolonged by COVID-19 restrictions and bad weather conditions.

All marine fishing activities had been banned because of bad weather conditions till August 12, said a Fisheries Department official. However, the Thoppumpady harbour is in a dilemma as Division 11 of the Kochi Corporation, where the harbour is located, continues to be under lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 in West Kochi areas.

“The harbour has been closed for over six months now and workers are in penury,” said M. Majeed, general secretary of Cochin Fishing Harbour Committee. He said that besides hundreds of trawl boat workers from Tamil Nadu, there were at least 5,000 people who depended on the harbour directly for their livelihood. The harbour is also the source of work for thousands of workers in processing units such as shrimp peeling units spread across the coastal region in Alappuzha district.

“The entire West Kochi region depends on the activities at this harbour,” he said, pointing to the key role played by the facility in the economic life of the area.

The workers, especially those who have been in Kochi for over a fortnight to complete their quarantine period, are restless. While their counterparts from neighbouring harbours such as Vypeen and Munambam can set out as the weather warning ends, they are confined by the continuing restrictions.

Around a thousand vessels — 250 gillnet boats, 400 long liners, 300 trawlers and 70 purse seine boats — operate out of the Thoppumpady harbour. The landings include high value catch such as skipjack and bluefin tuna, snappers and shrimp.

V.D. Majeendran of Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation said the harbour was the lifeline of Kochi and a big contributor to the marine food export industry.

Business transactions worth ₹4 crore to ₹5 crore took place at the harbour on a good day during the peak season that stretched between the end of the annual trawling ban in August and January, said Mr. Majeed.

The harbour has been closed since March and there has been no activity at all. Boats and fishing gear need repair as most of them have been damaged. It was an added worry for the hundreds of boat owners, he said.

Alex Ninan, representing the seafood exporters in Kerala, said the big delay in resuming fishing operations had already hit the ₹6,000-crore export industry hard.

There are around a hundred exporting units. Most of them work at about 25% of their capacity. But 2020 has been an extremely difficult year both on account of the pandemic and the bad weather. About 50% of the annual business was completed during those months, he added. He said the loss of fishing days had contributed to a scarcity of raw materials from within the State.

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