It is an undeclared holiday for the North Andhra fishermen following the fast depletion in the catch and the exorbitant increase in the operational cost.
Of the 700 mechanised boats operated from the Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour, only 20 to 30% are going on voyage mostly towards the northern side to Gopalpur and Puri of Odisha. Faced with an uncertain future, some of the fishermen have even decided to resort to distress sale of their boats.
Korada Satyanarayana, a boat owner, told The Hindu that the situation had come to such a pass that even he tried to sell his boat in Kakinada after finding no taker in the city but was shocked to find that the situation was also the same there.
“There are no takers even though we are ready to sell the boats at almost half of its original cost,” he bemoaned. This typifies the situation prevailing in the fishing sector. “We have sent SoS to the authorities but none is coming to our rescue,” pointed out Dolphin Boat Operators’ Welfare Association president Ch. Satyanarayana Murthy.
Industrial effluents
“The fall in catch started in the past four to five years. Now we are not getting enough to meet our fuel and ration cost” Fishermen say indiscriminate release of industrial effluents into the sea is responsible for the fall in the catch. “Fish-kill due to chemical effluents is a common spectacle in Pudimadaka, Parawada, Pydibhimavaram and Nakkapalli areas,” said Arjili Dasu, executive secretary of the District Fishermen Youth Welfare Association.
For going on a 15/16-day voyage, a mechanised boat owner has to spend nearly ₹2 lakh on diesel and ice and ₹ 30,000 to ₹40,000 towards ration for the crew. On an average, each boat owner is incurring a loss of ₹50,000 to ₹60,000 per voyage ever since the new fishing season has started on June 15 after the end of 60-day annual fishing ban. Fishermen, whom The Hindu contacted, said they were ready to sell boats with a value of ₹ 25 lakh at ₹ 10 to 15 lakh due to the heavy burden in repayment of private and institutional loans taken for purchasing the boats.
The fishermen are upset that they are not getting high-value fish like shrimp, Vanjiram and Pomfret as per their expectations.
The export price of ‘pink brown shrimp’ has also come down from last year’s ₹450 to ₹320-330 per kg. Tiger and white shrimp has turned into a rare catch. “Mostly we are getting miscellaneous fish like Mackerel and Gulivindala, which do not fetch much to us,” said another boat owner.
The owners point out that diesel subsidy being offered by the government has not been revised in proportionate to the rise in the prices of fuel. They are given ₹3.03 when per litre cost was ₹34. Now diesel price is jacked up to ₹65.
