One week after the demonetisation drive was launched, fish prices have nosedived by nearly 60 per cent at various landing centres of the district. According to sources, more than 90 per cent of the motorised boats in the fishing harbour have been anchored due to the low rates prevailing for fish and also due to the difficulties being faced in procuring fuel for the boats. At the same time, sources said fisherwomen who are mainly involved in door-to-door sale of fish in the district are bearing the brunt of demonetisation as they are unable to get their hands on lower denominations for a smooth trade. More than 13,000 fisherfolk have been affected due to the lack of lower denominations in the district, the sources said. While king fish normally sold at around Rs 600 per kilo, it now sells for Rs 200-250 per kilo, while the price of seer fish has dropped from Rs 350 per kilo to Rs 150-200. Also, rates of croaker fish, ribbon fish and goat fish have dropped from the normal rates of Rs 60-70 per kilo to Rs 35-40. Speaking to TOI, District Fishermen’s Youth Welfare Association executive secretary Arjilli Dasu said, “The main demand is for Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes and there is lack of these notes at the fish landing areas in the district. Many fisherwomen were able to exchange the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, but in turn they got only Rs 2,000 notes which are useless as of now for the trade.” Furthermore, he said, “On normal days, you have around 10-15 tonnes landing at the fishing harbour, but now only 5-6 tonnes is coming in. Due to the low loads the prices should actually have been higher, but as there is no lower denominations, nobody is buying. Even dry fish rates have dropped from the normal Rs 50-60 per kilo to Rs 30-35 per kg.” Concurring that lack of lower denominations was hurting the fishing industry which usually witnesses a turnover of around Rs 4 crore per day in the district, Visakha Dolphin Boat Owners Association president Ch Satyanarayana Murthy said, “Nobody has lower denominations in the market. Whatever fish is coming in is not being sold and even if the fisherfolk are able to sell it, they are getting very low rates. The unsold fish are being dried. Boat owners are also facing huge problems because of restrictions on cash withdrawals. While the literate people can use RTGS for money transfer to fuel the boats, the others are not able to do it. More than 90 per cent of the boats are in the jetty because nobody has the required money to go to the sea.” He said, “We need Rs 50 and Rs 100 denominations for trade to normalise in the fishing harbour. Without this, even the vendors and rickshaw pullers are not able to do business normally.” Speaking to TOI, District Fishermen’s Youth Welfare Association executive secretary Arjilli Dasu said, “The main demand is for Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes and there is lack of these notes at the fish landing areas in the district. Many fisherwomen were able to exchange the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, but in turn they got only Rs 2,000 notes which are useless as of now for the trade.” Furthermore, he said, “On normal days, you have around 10-15 tonnes landing at the fishing harbour, but now only 5-6 tonnes is coming in. Due to the low loads the prices should actually have been higher, but as there is no lower denominations, nobody is buying. Even dry fish rates have dropped from the normal Rs 50-60 per kilo to Rs 30-35 per kg.” Concurring that lack of lower denominations was hurting the fishing industry which usually witnesses a turnover of around Rs 4 crore per day in the district, Visakha Dolphin Boat Owners Association president Ch Satyanarayana Murthy said, “Nobody has lower denominations in the market. Whatever fish is coming in is not being sold and even if the fisherfolk are able to sell it, they are getting very low rates. The unsold fish are being dried. Boat owners are also facing huge problems because of restrictions on cash withdrawals. While the literate people can use RTGS for money transfer to fuel the boats, the others are not able to do it. More than 90 per cent of the boats are in the jetty because nobody has the required money to go to the sea.” He said, “We need Rs 50 and Rs 100 denominations for trade to normalise in the fishing harbour. Without this, even the vendors and rickshaw pullers are not able to do business normally.”
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