The boat makers are doing brisk business since last one month as the fishermen are in a hurry to repair their rickety boats. The fishing ban since November 1 last was lifted on May 31, and hence, the fishers are gearing up for fishing in the Bay of Bengal.
Notably, the Forest Department every year imposes a ban on fishing in the sea from November 1 to May 31 in accordance with provisions of Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act (OMFRA), 1982, Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, Orissa Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1982 and Orissa Marine Fishing Rules, 1983 to protect the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles at Gahirmatha.
Most of the fishing boats remain in the jetties during fishing ban season. By remaining unused for months together, damages and rust generally occur in the boats and gillnet boats. As a result, the marine fishermen of the district, who generally eke out their living by catching fish in the Bay of Bengal, have started repairing their damaged boats before venturing into the deep sea to catch fish after a gap of six and a half months.
According to fisherman leader Narayan Haldar, the fishermen of the locality are now busy in inviting the boat repairers to repair their damaged boats as there is an opportunity to venture into the sea to catch fish with their boats after a gap of about 195 days.
So the boat maker units of Bengali dominated fishermen areas of Talachua, Rangani, Jamboo,Batighar , Kharanashi, Ramnagar have been doing a brisk business as damaged boats are lined up for repair works. The boat makers do not have a little time to take an hour of rest, stated several boat making unit artisans.
“The boat makers expect to make a profit capitalising on the situation,” said Sujit Bepari, a boat maker of Ramanagar village.
According to another boat maker Ashis Mistry, orders are low until April last week. But now the boat making unit is flooded with orders as once again the fishing activities are going to be resumed.
A decade back, during this time, the boat making units were getting orders for15 to 20 boats each. But now things have changed a lot. In a fishing ban season, the forest personnel manage to seize more than 30 local boats for violating the ban order.
It has become an uphill task for a fisherman, whose boat was seized, to make a new boat which involves spending lakhs of rupees. So, he generally depends on arranging a second hand or dilapidated boat, said Tusar Sardar, a fisherman.
In order to do repair works of a damaged boat, the boat making units generally charge between Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000 per boat, depending on wear and tear, stated Bhakta Ranjan Mahali, a fisherman of Kharanashi.