It’s almost a double whammy for the fishing sector. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in the Central Budget presented on Tuesday, announced an Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess of ₹2.5 per litre on petrol and ₹4 per litre on diesel. At the same time, kerosene price saw a double surge in February with which the fuel price went up to about ₹8 per litre. However, Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil has said the State will continue to sell PDS kerosene at the January price considering the problems being faced by ordinary people.
Fishers welcomed the State government decision. “Kerala government has made a statement with the decision not to hike PDS kerosene price. However, the rise in petrol and diesel price through the cess is a big blow to the fishing sector,” said Charles George of Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedhi, an independent union of fishers in the traditional sector.
Lean season
Jackson Pollayil of Kerala Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation said the fuel price hike would adversely impact the fishing community in the midst of a lean season and poor landings.
Joseph Xavier Kalapurackal of Kerala Mechanised Boat Owners’ Association said with the heating of the ocean waters, fish shoals are moving away to deeper seas, which means every trawling boat needs to spend more time and fuel to catch fish. With petrol and diesel price ruling over ₹100 a litre, fishing operations are becoming unviable. The fresh hike will break the back of the industry, he said.
Mr. George said Kerala should pressurise the Union government to provide a special quota of kerosene for the fishing sector considering its importance in terms of employment generation and providing for food security. The State must also put pressure on the Central government to provide kerosene subsidy for the fishing sector.
Fishers have also said apex fisheries cooperative Matsyafed should be declared the wholesale dealer for kerosene in the State.
Over the years, the quantity of subsidised kerosene for the fishing sector has come down drastically. The actual requirement of the fishing sector is in the vicinity of 20,000 kl per month. But the sector receives around 12,000 kl every three months. The quantity of supply used to be 28,000 kl during the 2001-05 period. It came down to 24,500 kl in the following years and it further fell to 18,500 kl in 2010, claimed Mr. George.
In the traditional sector, boats deploying engines with power up to 9.9 hp are eligible for 129 litres of subsidised kerosene per month. But not even a tenth of supplies are being received by these boats, Mr. George added.
Fish drought
With the lean season in, most of the traditional boats with in-board engines are anchored and are not venturing out, he said. Their frustration stems from the fish-drought-like situation. Oil sardines are nowhere to be found in their traditional grounds. The most popular fish both among fish-eaters and the fishing community, oil sardine landings have fallen from 3.99 lakh tonnes in 2012 to 13,500 tonnes in 2021.
Among the maritime States, Kerala has the largest number of fishing vessels at an estimated 37,000, of which around 20,000 may be getting fuel subsidy, Mr. George added.
