It was the vigilant public who alerted authorities about an unfamiliar truck parked on a pocket road at Neendakara. It carried some 4,000 kg of tuna and after the initial denial, the crew of the truck confessed to the police that it was nearly one month old. It was just one of the many consignments seized by the police, Fisheries and Food Safety Departments in the past four days from Kollam, the total quantity over a whopping 20,000 kg.
Various departments have intensified vigil, conducting daily inspections under Operation Sagar Rani to check inflow of stale fish.
Cashing in on shortage
“With majority of fishing boats idling, there has been a severe shortage of fish for the past 10 days and some consider it an opportunity to dispose of old stock. These consignments are mainly from pre-lockdown days and they all reach Kerala from other States by road,” says Circle Inspector S. Sherif.
“When the 21-day lockdown came into effect, several trawlers were stranded in the sea, many of them returning after long days with their catch. In order to evade strict regulations, including mandatory quarantine, many boats decided to remain in the sea around 12 nautical miles where the territorial waters end. But since they ventured into the sea some three to four weeks before lockdown, it was not possible to keep the catch for a long time,” says Francis, fisher.
At first some boats tried to sell the catch using small carrier boats that ferried the fish to the local harbour.
“When Fisheries Department started seizing such boats in Kerala, they went to places such as Muttom in Tamil Nadu to unload the catch. Since there is no restriction to transport fish now, they are bringing it to Kerala by road since our State is their biggest market,” he adds.
Boats seized
The Fisheries Department has so far seized four boats in Kollam and marine enforcement officials are supervising the activities in harbours to ensure that there are no violations.
“One of the boats had quality catch and we helped to market it through Matsyafed. The boats we seized were disinfected with the help of Fire and Safety officials and are currently docked at Neendakara. A total of 54 crew members, including those from other States, have been quarantined in Kollam,” says Fisheries Deputy Director P. Geethakumari.