Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Aug 30: The fishing season which was going ahead in full flourish, suddenly was intercepted by heavy rain and strong winds. As the fishing boats returned to shores without any catches, they faced heavy losses.

The meteorological department has warned of normal to heavy rainfall in the coast and south interior Karnataka. On August 30, an orange alert was sounded while yellow alert has been issued for Tuesday. This has created problems for the fishing boats.

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The trawl boats which undertake deep sea fishing were getting normal to good catches for the last some days. In the case of purse seine boats, most of them have completed two trips in this season. As there has been heavy rainfall since the last two days, because of huge waves, controlling the movement of the boats has been posing a big problem. Shashikumar, president of Purse Seine Boats Union, says that the shoals of fish therefore have not been rising to the surface from deep down because of which the catches have suffered.

If the boats which leave the shores duly loaded with diesel, ice blocks, ration items of workers and salary, the owners face heavy losses if the fishing mission is dropped and the boats come back. Moreover, if the cyclones damage the boats, repair costs will be heavy. A ten-day trawl boat fishing journey will be cost effective only if the fish catches fetch a minimum of Rs 12 lac, he stated.

There is a dearth of space to moor the fishing boats in the city. There is no space in the dock, and the construction of the third phase of the port is not yet completed. Dredging and other issues are pending for long. Shashikumar says that fishing has provided employment to many sectors like ice factories, transport hotels etc but the government support is not enough.