Fishermen have appealed to apex fisheries cooperative Matsyafed to intervene to ensure remunerative price for fish even as a new fishing season kicked off this week at the end of the 52-day trawling ban. The fisheries cooperative must step in to ensure fair price for fish during the monsoon season, said leaders of independent fishermen’s union Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation here.
Jackson Pollayil, president of the federation, said the onus was on Matsyafed to intervene to ensure price stability. The Kerala State Cooperative Federation for Fisheries Development was established with the aim of helping fishermen get a steady price and ensuring that their economic conditions improved.
The Board is at the summit of primary cooperatives and it has the responsibility to function in a manner that will help the fishermen community in a big way. The fishermen’s union also alleged that Matsyafed now operated only with the aim of making profit.
However, chairman of the apex cooperative T. Manoharan said the cooperative was not in a financial position to establish infrastructure like cold storages that will allow procurement of fish and storage. Once excess fish is stored in proper condition, it can be made available when fish landing is down. However, the State government must help finance the infrastructure, he said.
Mr. Manoharan added that the fisheries cooperative was prepared to undertake such a measure with the support of the government. The government has promised to help Matsyafed build such facilities at all major fisheries harbours and fish landing centres in the State, he said.
Fishermen are calling on Matsyafed to operate on the lines of milk cooperative Milma to procure fish and offer support price to fishers. Market intervention should not be confined to fish prices alone, said Mr. Pollayil. Fishermen also want the apex cooperative to step in when the prices of inputs like fishing gear spiral.
Fishermen alleged that the cooperative had not intervened to provide subsidised fuel for fishing boats. The prices of daily inputs such as fuel and fishing nets comprise the largest volume of investment that go into fishing expeditions, they said.