Fishers rue at the season going waste

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The year-long preparations for fishing during the trawling ban period have gone in vain for traditional fishers with the prevailing pandemic situation along the coast having rendered their investments useless.Several fishermen have taken huge loans for replacing old engines and nets to prepare for the season that falls in the June to August. “We started off well and we were hoping for a better fishing season compared to last year,” said Kerala Swatantra Matsyathozhilali Federation (KSMTF) general secretary Jackson Pollayil. But they hardly got one week for fishing as the national lockdown was followed by more restrictions after many coastal locations became containment zones. 

According to Jackson, a large number of fisher families may not even recover from the indebtedness without a bailout package. In Thiruvananthapuram region, small fishermen spend around `3 lakh for the repair and the maintenance of nets and boats. This goes up to `25 lakh in other regions in the state. Often the fishermen are forced to borrow from private money lenders at a high interest rate.

“(The reason why many go to private money lenders is that) the role of Matsyafed in disbursing loans is not very effective. The process is cumbersome and arbitrary,” said Jackson.  With the spread of the disease along the coast, there are fewer buyers for fish affecting the livelihood of women fish sellers. The earnings by women has a major role in the financial stability of the family, said Janet Cletus, a woman leader from the community in Thiruvananthauram. In a family there will be at least one woman involved in selling fish. The savings are set aside for the loan repayment, education and marriage of the children.