Life is too rough for these Kodiyakkadu fishermen

Imagine squatting in knee-deep sea water for close to six hours under scorching sun or drenching rain with just king fishers and other avians for company. At the end of the daily chore, these fishermen and women of Kodiyakkadu near here take home a princely sum of Rs. 150.

The toil of these fisher folk numbering around 100 during peak season and about a dozen during lean days is a saga of severity, combating adverse weather conditions, unfriendly seawater, unseen catch and untold misery back home.

This is a group of small-time fishermen and women who don’t venture into the sea or go to work in any establishment, not even for works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

They set out from their modest dwellings in Kodiyakkadu fishing hamlet before dawn to the sea shore from where water is pumped through reservoirs to two private chemical salt manufacturing industrial units some distance between Agasthiyampalli and Kodiyakkarai.

Wading through knee deep slush of mud flats to reach the sea water reservoirs where there would be no waves, they squat and search under water with their bare hands for any shrimp or crab. When they feel the fish or crab, instinctively they clasp their fingers and catch the prey.

This job they do for close to six hours every day to collect a maximum of a kilogram of shrimp and a dozen crabs on a lucky day. But those days are few and far between for them.

“Karthigai-Margazhi is the best season for us when we land better grown shrimps and crabs in these regions. Our difficulty would be compounded when rains come. Not that we are happy labouring under the scorching sun, but rains would add to our agony but we won’t mind as the catch would be better,” explains V. Sargunam (56) of Kodiyakkadu as he returns to the shore and holds aloft his catch for the day.

“We sell our catch every day to small-time traders or even to retailers when we reach the market place at Kodiyakkarai. Standing in three-four feet deep salt water takes a toll on our health. But we don’t know any other trade for a livelihood and press ahead with this type of fishing in seawater. That’s not all as crabs inflict stinging bites before they perish as we don’t know immediately when we grab them. All that make for an unpopular work,” rues G. Selvi as she scurries to the market and be among the early birds to encash the catch.

During the season, these fishermen get a maximum of Rs. 300 a day but the daily wading and squatting has definitely taken a toll on their health as could be seen from bent legs and twisted fingers that have turned pale due to exposure to salt water. All for a square meal a day.