Tusar Sardar, a fisherman of Kharnashi, is now a worried man. After a ban period was over, he recently had gone to the sea with his mechanised boat to catch fish, but he did not lay hand on much fish.
He found that his fish catch was not worth the expenses he had to meet to go for fishing. His apprehension is that he might not be able to run his family if the trend continues.
According to Tusar, the marine fishermen generally get only four months in a year to catch fish in the Bay of Bengal, while the other eight months generally remain within the ban period which is implemented to provide safety to the Olive Ridley sea turtles. The ban is lifted from July to October end. But as the four months generally fall in monsoon season, most of the time due to rough weather, cyclone and depression the fishermen do not venture into the sea.
But this year the fishers are worried as fishing has gone low.“What’ll we do to feed our familyIJ last year, the fish catch was not so encouraging. This year it has gone further down,” lamented Narayan Biswal, a trawler owner. A couple of years back, during this time the fishing jetty was abuzz with activity. But now, a large fleet of fishing boats is all crammed in, hull to hull, as if the boats are not wanted anymore.
Fish catch generally goes up in the sea when eastern wind along with low pressure occurs. But this year, the eastern wind has not blown much. As a result, since last fortnight the fish catch has gone from tons to quintals. Now, the fishermen are not going to sea owing to the loss, said Narayan.With the fish catch during this peak season dwindling several marine fishermen have left for their villages to earn livelihood in other fields, anchoring their trawlers and boats at Kharanashi jetty.
Fish catch reduces due to several factors, including sea temperature, climate change, current and wind pattern. Another fact is as fish is migratory in nature, said Additional Director Fishery (Marine), Kujang Gyanaranjan Samal, adding that since eastern wind has started blowing, the Fishery department anticipates that the fish catch would rise in September and November.