As there was no rainfall in the month of August, temperature has soared high. This has not only caused adverse effect on agricultural activity but it has also hit fishing. Though a month is over since the deep sea fishing has begun, the catch is very low this year.
The months August running up to end of September are considered to be the best season for fishing activity in the Arabian Sea along the coastline from Mangaluru to Karwar. However, this season due to increased temperature and scanty rainfall, scarcity has hit fish catch as well.
During this season, pursiene boats catch fish worth Rs 3 lac if they venture into sea at a time. However, this year they are not even getting fish worth Rs 1 lac. The daily expenses of diesel, food of 30 onboard fishermen and salaries amount to Rs 60,000 a day. So, if the catch of fish is not of nominal value, this causes loss to the owner of the boat. Fishermen say that they are not even able to get fish which will pay for the boat’s diesel expenses.
If the temperature of sea water is around 22 to 25 degrees celsius, the fish come to the surface and the fishermen can catch more fish. However, this year the temperature hovered around 30 degrees celsius as there has been no rainfall for a long period and that is why the fish are not coming to the surface.
There are around 9,000 country boats in DK, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts. Around 27,000 families are dependent on fishing activity. There are 1,000 deep sea fishing boats in Udupi and 1600 in DK. Nearly a lac of people are dependent on these boats for their livelihood. Fishermen are hoping that timely rainfall during the month of September will bring them good fortune and cheer.