Paradip: With the two-month fishing ban over, Paradip harbour is again abuzz with activities. Thousands of fishermen in around 700 trawlers and mechanised boats sailed into the sea Friday midnight.
The state government usually clamps a ban on fishing between April 15 and June 14 to ensure the safe breeding of fish. The ban goes a long way in increasing the fish population.
During the ban fishermen never go into the waters. With no other income, a large section of the community finds it difficult to make both ends meet. They keep waiting for the ban to be lifted.
As the ban has been lifted, seafood exporters of the state have opened offices and collection centers to purchase fish and prawn. Merchants from West Bengal also have arrived here to buy fish from local fishermen.
Trawler owners and fishermen know from experience that they would get a bumper catch this month. While it does not mean that there will be a decrease in fish population after a month, the weather may play spoilsport.
If there is any forecast of bad weather, it is the fishermen and trawler owners who suffer losses as they cannot venture into the sea.
If fishermen have to return due to dangerous weather trawler owners will not get even the money spent on fuel and ice. A trawler can go to sea only 20 to 22 times a year. In Odia, fishermen call a single journey into the sea a ‘voice’ (voyage).
Arabinda Swain, a trawler owner, says that a trawler owner usually spends Rs 3 to 4 lakh on a single voyage. The expenditure also includes wages and other expenses of fishermen as the men who go on the trawler have to stay in sea for seven to 10 days.
If the fishermen return with the trawler midway due to bad weather, it costs the trawler owner dear.
Trawler owners used to rake in the moolah in the past as there used to be abundant fish. But there is a sharp decrease in the fish population over the last some years due to industrial pollution and climate change.
“These days taking trawlers into the sea is a gamble. If they return with a good catch it is ok. Otherwise the fear of losses haunts every voyage,” an owner said.
Elderly fishermen cannot switch to other professions and the young are not interested in fishing, says the Odisha Maritime Fisheries Association (OMFA). Sea fish remains the most favourite food of the vast majority of non-vegetarians.