In spite of the forecast of rough sea, heavy rain and storm, about 400 mechanised fishing boats, which had been on a forced 52-day vacation, were raring to go at the Beypore fishing harbour on Tuesday afternoon.
Freshly painted, repaired and well-stocked, the boats, which had idled on the shore all these days, were eager to dart into the sea soon after midnight when the ban on trawling would be lifted.
In view of the bad weather forecast, the authorities have warned fishing boat operators against venturing into the sea on Wednesday. “We are aware of the weather alerts,” Mr. Vasu, president of the Fishing Boat Operators Association’s Beypore unit, told The Hindu. “But the boatmen are all keen on not missing the catch on the first day after the 52-day trawling ban. If the sea is not extremely turbulent, all these boats will head to the sea early in the morning.”
The fishing community at Beypore, the largest fishing hub in Kozhikode district, was hopeful of a good catch because of the abundant monsoon rainfall. Fishers said they did not much bother about the troubled sea as they had had enough of waiting — for an unprecedented 52 days.
Boat owners said migrant workers from other States, who had gone home when the trawling-ban period started, were all back. Fishing sector is one sector where a large number of non-Kerala workers are employed. M. Siddique, a boat operator, said a sizeable number of boat workers in the Beypore area was from Kolachal in southern Tamil Nadu, and the rest from Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand. The workers had all returned two or three days before.
Mr. Siddique, however, does not share other boat operators’ optimism that the catch would be good. “A good monsoon means a good catch,” he said. “But this time the monsoon rain has been torrential and this is likely to be bad for fishing.” The rush of such a huge amount of rainwater would create havoc in the sea, thus driving schools of fish far away, he explained.
High fuel cost
As part of the annual maintenance, most boats operating out of the Beypore harbour have been repaired, given a coat of new paint and refitted over the past few weeks. Mr. Vasu said boat owners had spent between ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh on the maintenance as well as purchase of new nets and ropes. Also, each boat was refilled with 2,000 to 3,000 litres of diesel. Compared to last year, Mr. Vasu said, there was a one-third rise in the price of diesel. It was a huge cost for boat operators as each boat used roughly 500 litres a day while at sea.
Fresh fish
While the opening of the fishing season brings hope of good catch to the fishing community, for consumers it brings cheer on two counts: a likely fall in the price and the prospect of getting ‘organic’ seafood. During the trawling-ban period, harmful formalin-laced fish was dumped on the market. Now, there would be more fresh, unadulterated fish in the market.