Traditional fishermen are lamenting the loss of fishing days and the high cost of fuel as the marine fisheries sector prepares to resume normal fishing activities after the annual ban on trawling in the State comes to an end on the midnight of July 31.
During the 52-day annual ban only traditional boats are allowed to engage in fishing activities. However, the period could not be made use of largely because of the ban on number of fishing days due to weather warnings, say fishermen unions. Most of the fishing days have either been curtailed or totally lost, claims Charles George of independent trade union Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedhi.
For traditional fishermen, good catches during the period were too few and far between, says Jackson Pollayil of the Kerala Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation. The shrimp harvest was encouraging but there was an attempt to push down the price during the period, he alleged. The allegation has been strongly denied by buyers, who use the marine shrimp from the season for exports.
Fishermen say the catch of oil sardine was not encouraging though the rainy season coincides with a catch of high quality sardines off the Kerala coast. The retail price was high, but the catch was too low for the fishermen to take advantage of the situation, Mr. Pollayil adds.
Traditional fishermen and their counterparts from the mechanised sector are, meanwhile, bracing up for another season of high fuel price. The price of kerosene, the preferred fuel for fishing boats, is more than ₹100 per litre. The price can go up to ₹120-₹125 a litre, depending on availability, Mr. Pollayil says.
The fishermen have demanded a subsidy from the State government for whatever fuel is used by the fishing boats. There are no subsidies for LPG, diesel and petrol, he adds.
Low kerosene supply
In the meantime, the State Civil Supplies department has appealed to the Union government to increase the State quota of kerosene. Though the Union government has ruled out the possibility of raising kerosene under the public distribution system for a single State, the State government has appealed to the government to consider increasing the non-PDS quota for the State, considering also the requirement of the fisheries sector.
The State government demand is that the Centre release at least 5,000 kl of kerosene immediately considering the requirements in the State. The demand for the traditional fuel has come up one again even as the State is holding a drive to help fishing boats to switch to fuels like CNG.