Availability of ice has become a matter of serious concern for boat owners as the new fishing season began at midnight of May 31.
Thirty ice plants, seven of them located in the fishing harbour and others at Gantyada, Lankalapalem and Marikivalasa, each with a capacity ranging from 20 tonnes to 60 tonnes, are forced to slice their production almost by half due to severe power problem. “On an average we are having seven to eight hours of power cut everyday. In fact, the EPDCL authorities wanted to impose longer power cuts but on our plea due to the ensuing fishing season put it on hold,” Visakha Ice Plant Owners’ Association president D.V.R. Raju told The Hindu.
About 50 per cent of 600-odd boats undertook the first voyage after resumption of fishing. The annual fishing ban, which began on April 15, came to an end on the midnight of May 31. The ban is observed regularly to allow breeding so as to increase the fish population.
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Each boat needs 10 tonnes of ice for eight-day voyage and 16 tonnes for 15 to 16-day voyage. “Now due to short-supply, we have to reduce the duration of our voyage. The supply of ice with 70 per cent formation will further hit the storage of fresh fish captured by us,” president of Dolphin Boat Owners’ Welfare Association Ch. Satyanarayana Murthy, said.
The demand for ice this time is such that most of the boat owners have given their indent 10 days in advance. Still the quantity of ice loaded by them into their vessels is far less than what they wanted to complete a long voyage and return to the shore with tonnes of high-value catch.