The ₹6,000-crore seafood export business in Kerala has taken a hit with the pandemic curbs bringing down fishing activities, closing down fishing harbours and landing centres as well as putting severe restrictions on pre-export processing centres.
Fishing harbours are closed along the Kerala coast. So are most of the processing units in districts such as Alappuzha, said Alex K. Nainan, president of the Kerala chapter of the Indian Seafood Exporters Association. He said these restrictions had resulted in a situation in which raw material from other States too cannot be processed here.
He said export orders for the March-April season could not be fully processed as the restrictions came into effect. Value-addition activities aimed at the coming season had not been carried out either because of the continuing restrictions and efforts to contain the pandemic.
The State Fisheries Department has issued restrictions on activities in the coastal areas from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi considering the spread of the pandemic. The serious spread of the pandemic in the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, and Ernakulam has brought all fishing activities to a standstill.
Fishing boat owners, in the meanwhile, said the annual trawling ban slated to end on July 31 would see more shrimp being caught giving a boost to activities in the processing sector. However, Joseph Xavier Kalapurakkal of the Boat Operators Association said the restrictions had scaled down activities substantially. “The restrictions on workers from other States operating in boats launched from Kerala centres is one of the reasons that will see reduced fishing activities, especially for shrimp catch,” he added. Around 20,000 fishers from neighbouring Tamil Nadu are also being quarantined in Kerala. These workers have been asked to produce COVID-negative certificates before they can be employed. Mr. Kalapurakkal said boat owners had been incurring heavy expenses in maintaining the group of workers ahead of the end of the trawling ban and expressed the hope that the season would be profitable.
