The Hindu Business Line : After tsunami, fishermen have to cope with dwindling catch

IT was another disastrous day for Basheer and friends - fishermen at the Odayam beach. Though the tsunami had spared their huts, nets, boats and their lives, their livelihood and catch from the seas had dried up in the following weeks.

They had gone and laid their net at sea overnight. After the laborious three-hour process of hauling the net from the sea next morning, the reward for their effort would barely add up to a paltry Rs 250 - which was to be distributed among the 23 fishermen involved in the operation.

"How can we survive if the sea does not provide our livelihood once again," Basheer asked in desperation. The scenario seemed to have been replicated all along Kerala's coastline.

The price of seer fish, which was prevailing around Rs 80-100 per kg during the pre-Christmas days flared up to Rs 170-190 in the wake of the tsunami wave.

"These mini lorries are coming with scarcely any fish these days as landings at Kerala's fishing harbours have trickled down," Mr Sukumaran, a fish vendor at the Kochi market said. The fish is coming from Mangalore and Tuticorin, which have not been seriously affected by the tsunami, he pointed out.

The catch from the sea has dwindled and nobody benefited from the price spiral.

Even a week after the tsunami when the fishermen started going to the sea in large numbers, the catch remained paltry.

"Unlike earlier, we have been recklessly killing all the creatures of the sea," Basheer admitted.

"Earlier we used to go out to the sea in catamarans and catch fish using rod and line. It used to be laborious, but we could catch what we needed for our pots and the rest we could sell. Now we go out in boats with outboard engines and haul in large catches, much of which is waste with no economic value which we leave to die."

But two weeks after the tsunami struck the Kerala coastline, the price of fish seems to have stabilised in the markets.

Seer fish prices have steadied around Rs 120 per kg in the Kochi market.

But it still has not brought good tidings to the traditional fisherman.

"Most of the catch comes from the mechanised boats and those with outboard motors. The places close to the coast seems to be bereft of fish even now," some of the traders said.

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