Mechanised boats return with decent catches in new fishing season

New fishing season starts strong with decent catches, boosting hopes for profitable year among boat owners and fishermen.

The new fishing season has commenced on high note as the mechanised boats that ventured into the sea on Saturday after the 61-day-long annual fishing ban returned to the base in the night with decent catches, much to the jubilation of the fishermen and the boat owners, who had the worst phase last year.

 While the boats that left Thoothukudi Fishing Harbour at 5 a.m. tested their fortune in the waters off Ervadi coast in Ramanathapuram district in the north did not have good harvest on Saturday, the vessels ventured towards the south to reach the fishing grounds between Tiruchendur and Kanniyakumari have returned to the harbour with decent catches.

 After completing their fishing operations off Kanniyakumari coast where they largely got ‘Ayala’ (Mackerel), not a premium variety, the boats, while returning to Thoothukudi Fishing Harbour, trawled between Koodankulam and Manappad after 4 p.m., known as ‘chekkal paadu’, (harvesting of fishes in the evening), where they got good catches including ‘Paarai’ (Trevelly Fish), ‘Ooli’ (Great Barracuda), ‘Seelaa’ (Seer Fish), ‘Vela’ (Emperor Fish), ‘Kilimeen’ (Parrot Fish), all premium and much sought-after varieties, besides others.

 “Most of the boats had catches worth ₹ 2 to ₹ 3 lakh… I was blessed with ₹ 4.40 lakh-worth fishes on day one while a couple of us got ₹ 10 lakh-worth fishes and more. So, this season has started on a high and hopeful note and we expect the days to come will also be blessed for us,” hoped mechanised boat owner Beno of Puthu Theru.

Since every owner have to spend around ₹ 1 lakh for sending each boat for fishing everyday after paying for 600 litres of diesel, 300 ice-bars and food for the crew, the income they had on the first day at sea has strengthened the fishermen’s hopes. As they have got this kind of harvest after long gap, the boat owners believe that they could repay their borrowings during this reason.

 “As of now, 82 boats are ready for sale and another 23 boat owners are ready to leave this profession for ever as they suffered huge loss since June last year. A prominent boat owner from Poobalarayarpuram, who owns three boats, berthed his vessels in February itself, much before the annual fishing that started on April 15. The catches we enjoyed this June after the end of the annual fishing ban revive hopes that this year would be profitable,” says J. Adrin, a fish trader, whose father ‘Ave Maria’ Joseph had two mechanised boats.

 After being a ‘ghost place’ for nearly 61-days, the Thoothukudi Fishing Harbour became vibrant from Saturday and the vibrancy lasted till 1 a.m. with the noisy auctioning of the fishes and preserving the purchased fishes in ice and transporting it in the vans continued. With the traders from Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga and Madurai districts and neighbouring Kerala vying with each other to win the auction in their favour, the fishermen, after enjoying good harvest, also got higher price for the fishes.