It is a bright morning in Visakhapatnam after several days of rain. Most people are asleep barring the health enthusiasts who are out in their walking shoes.The roads are empty and the sound of the waves is clearly audible.
Hustle bustle A woman dries fish at the fishing harbour | Photo Credit: KR DEEPAK
But closer to the Fishing Harbour it is all a hustle and bustle as trawlers with giant nets are ready to unload their cargo of their catch and men wait to go on board to do that. The sound of the waves is quite drowned out by the loud voices, mostly of women who are auctioning fish to the traders and small-scale vendors. Nobody has time to spare as a minute of delay means losing the auction.
The harbour awakens even before dawn. The fishermen venture into the sea for the day’s catch at 3 am and return to the shore by 6 am to a harbour throbbing with life.
Living by the harbour
Owner of two trawlers, Kishore Kumar has been a part of this scene for the past 15 years. He employs 25 peoplewho venture out into the sea for days and come back with a haul of fishes. Once back to the shore, Kishore hands the catch to K Perramma who auctions them for him at 10 % commission. He says she is the best in the business as she never fails to get him a good deal. Kishore and Perramma have an unspoken respect and regard for each other’s skill and have a pact to work together.
Trick of the trade
Social interaction and negotiation skills are crucial in the trade. Perramma, with her hair tied tightly in a bun, and the pallu of her sari tucked firmly into her waist, briskly conducts her business. In no time at all she has sold the pomfret and the baskets of prawns piled up beside her. Her loud voice and no-nonsense attitude is intimidating as she negotiates deals with small-scale traders, but once she is done with the deal, she flashes a friendly smile and is ready for a chat!
“ I was eight years old when my mother brought me here. She auctioned fish for a livlihood and it was natural that I followed her. This profession has helped me earn a living and raise four children,” she says. “One has to be strict while doing the auctions or else people take you for a ride,” says Peramma as she calls it a day till four in the evening when the second round of auctions happen.
Ankamma buys fish from auctioners and she is all smiles as she sits on an upturned plastic crate and surveys her neatly displayed pomfrets, seer fish and prawns. Every time a customer enquires about the price and quality, she displays the blood red gills of the fish to show how fresh it is. “The business is a little down today as the prices of fish are high,” she says as she persuades a customer to buy her seer fish. Many others like Ankamma buy fish from the auctioneers early in the morning and set-up makeshift stalls to sell them. Many of them also sell them door to door.
Huge thermacol containers lined neatly against the wall near Ankamma and ready to be mounted on transport vehicles. A little away from the chaos of the fish market is S K Raju’s Sree Guru Agencies, where people are transferring Indian prawns and Asian tiger shrimps into an ice-laden crates that will finally go to foreign shores.
Beyond market boundaries
“We are getting these ready to export them to the USA. There are several species that are not so popular among the locals, for instance tuna, but are preferred in foreign countries. So most of it is exported. If a fisherman has good quality fish, 60 % of it is exported and 40 % is used for the city,” explains Raju. Visakhapatnam sends most of its export material to Mumbai from where it is shipped to other countries such as Japan, USA, France, Korea and China.
To stay ahead of others in the business, Raju sponsors almost 20 trawlers. These trawlers let Raju have the first pick. In this way, Raju gets a hold of the best and has consequently made a name for himself in the market.
As the sun rises, the noise and chatter die down and calm prevails. But only till the following morning when it will spring back to vigorous activity.