Activities at the Thoppumpady fishing harbour, which resumed partially in the second week of August after the 52-day trawling ban, COVID-19 restrictions, and bad weather, are yet to acquire full steam, with gillnet and longline operations yet to be resumed owing to curbs on workers from other States.

Around 200 longline and gillnet boats are idling at the harbour, said M. Majeed, general secretary of Cochin Fishing Harbour Coordination Committee.

Longline and gillnet boats are operated by fishers from Thuthoor in Tamil Nadu. According to the COVID-19 protocol, fishers from other States cannot operate out of harbours in Kerala unless they undergo a 14-day quarantine.

A delegation of fishers have been in touch with the Fisheries Department, so that operations could be resumed. The department is expected to consider the issue on Monday, said Mr. Majeed.

Fishers have been warned against flouting the protocol, which was adopted in view of the spread of the pandemic, a Fisheries Department official said. He also pointed out that there had been instances of the spread of COVID-19 at harbours and landing centres where the norms had been flouted.

There was much uncertainty about the resumption of operations at the Thoppumpady harbour, the biggest fish landing centre in Kerala, after Division 11 of the Kochi Corporation came under lockdown.

Around 5,000 people work at the harbour directly. The economy of West Kochi and surrounding areas that stretch into Aroor and Eramalloor in Alappuzha district depends to a great extent on the Thoppumpady harbour, said Mr. Majeed.

Besides gillnet boats and longliners, 300 trawlers and 70 purse seine boats operate out of the harbour. The landings at Thoppumpady include catches like skipjack and bluefin tuna, which are of great value to the fish processing industry.