Apex fisheries sector cooperative Kerala State Cooperative Federation for Fisheries Development (Matsyafed) plans to establish more chill rooms and ice plants to help fishermen preserve catch to ensure remunerative prices.
Matsyafed sources said more such facilities would help fishermen realise better prices for their catch. There has been a long-standing demand that Matsyafed step in to help fishermen by establishing a chain of hygienic and scientific storage facilities as the catch is perishable, and fishermen are often at the mercy of the market.
The sources added that the cooperative had eight base stations at fisheries harbours and fish landing centres. Fish catch landing at these centres are aggregated and sold through outlets run by the cooperative. Besides, it has an ice plant in Kochi with an installed capacity for 100 tonnes of fish. However, the facility is under renovation, and only around 20 tonnes can be stored now.
A major objective of the fisheries cooperative is to ensure the right of first sale of catch to the producer fishermen and check their exploitation by auctioneers or middlemen. The cooperative also collects catch from traditional fishers for marketing.
Fish feed plant
As part of its efforts to improve the lot of fishermen, the cooperative participated in establishing a fish feed plant attached to the Matsyafed freezing plant in Kochi. It is the first fish feed plant in the public sector, and is expected to go a long way in ensuring the overall growth of the sector. The plant was established with ₹15-lakh support from the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology.
Beach-level auctions
The fisheries cooperative has also been engaged in organising beach-level primary sale of fish landings through auctions. Under the system, fishermen land the catch at landing centres or harbours and sell fish under different systems. As it was found that fishermen suffered at the hands of middlemen during primary sales, beach-level auctions under the supervision of primary cooperatives were introduced.
Fishermen are paid immediately for the catch, and their payments due for savings as well as towards loan repayments are deducted before the money is credited to their accounts.