Fish, the staple food for a majority of people along the coast, has been missing from meal plates ever since the declaration of the lockdown to combat COVID-19. Even fishermen, already bogged down by fish famine, are being forced to forego fish in their meals.
The administrations of three coastal districts — Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada — imposed a ban on deep sea fishing from March 23 and cut off diesel supply to vessels. It was aimed at preventing large gatherings of buyers at dhakkes (fish landing points). Since then, mechanised vessels have not ventured out, thereby drastically reducing the supply of marine produce not only in the coast, but also across the State.
While traditional fishing is on in Uttara Kannada and Udupi districts, the Dakshina Kannada district administration on April 4 said it cannot allow even motorised boats for conventional fishing, for fear of entry of people from Kerala to Mangaluru. Since State borders have been sealed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, there have been instances of people from Kerala coming to Mangaluru using the sea route.
Shobendra Sasihithlu, president of the Sasihithlu Fishermen’s Cooperative Society at Sasihithlu, close to the Udupi district border, told The Hindu that just a few conventional boats venture out early in the morning and come back with almost no catch. The famine has ruined the fisherman community, he said.
Eighty-five-year-old Vittal Gurikar, a fishermen’s head from Kapu in Udupi district, said he has never seen a fish famine as severe as the present one. Fishermen have not seen silver fish, sardine, mackerel, kingfish, ladyfish and other popular varieties for long, he said.
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Online campaign
Fish lovers in Udupi district have launched an online campaign — Enkleg Fish Bodu (we need fish) — urging the district administration to relax restrictions on fishing. Even if conventional fishermen come back with some catch, they were unable to sell it for lack of transportation facilities and restrictions on gatherings, the campaigners said. The price of all fish varieties across the coast has more than doubled, with sardines selling for ₹250 to ₹300 a kg, up from ₹100 to ₹150, and mackerels selling for ₹350 to ₹400, as against ₹150 to ₹200.
