In the more than 13 years between April 2011 and July 2024, as many as 775 fishing workers have died in the State an 113 have gone missing in accidents during deep-sea fishing, according to the response to a Right to Information (RTI) application.
During the period, 3,082 fishing vessels were involved in accidents. The office of the Fisheries Deputy Director and the Kerala Fishermen Welfare Fund Board had collectively handed over compensations to the tune of ₹39.34 crore to the families of the deceased and the missing, besides those who lost their vessels and fishing gears. The RTI application was filed by RTI activist Raju Vazhakkala.
Thiruvananthapuram accounted for the loss of maximum number of fishing workers, 392, while another 102 had gone missing. Kozhikode was second on the list of lives lost with 155 while four had gone missing. Ernakulam accounted for 77 deaths and while one fishing worker had gone missing. The number of deceased in Alappuzha stood at 68, while it was 64 in Kannur and 19 in Malappuram. The statistics of the deceased and missing workers were not available for districts such as Kollam, Thrissur and Kasaragod.
During the period, 978 vessels were involved in accidents in Thiruvananthapuram, 832 in Ernakulam, 407 in Kollam, 324 in Kozhikode, 209 in Alappuzha, 141 in Kannur, 118 in Thrissur, and 73 in Kasaragod.
The most number of lives lost, 159, was in 2017 when Kerala felt the impact of the severe cyclonic storm Ockhi. In 2016, 54 lives were lost followed by 38 in 2014, and 33 in 2015.
Since 2017, the number of casualties registered a considerable drop and remained below 20 all through except 2023 when 22 lives were lost. Nine lives have been lost till July this year.
Thiruvananthapuram received the highest compensation of ₹16.60 crore towards the deceased and the missing and over ₹9 crore towards lost vessels and fishing gear. This was followed by Kozhikode with ₹11.8 crore and ₹1.72 crore and Ernakulam with ₹4.43 crore and ₹1.07 crore respectively.
Under the insurance scheme of the Kerala Fishermen Welfare Fund Board, a fishing worker who dies or goes missing during the course of his work is entitled to an insurance coverage of ₹10 lakh each while it is ₹10 lakh and ₹5 lakh respectively for permanent complete and partial disability. Two children of the deceased fishing worker are entitled to assistance not exceeding ₹10,000. Assistance not exceeding ₹25,000 would be given for hospital treatment exceeding 24 hours and ₹2,500 would be given towards funeral expenses.