Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jul 28: As per the government norms, the fishing holiday comes to an end on July 31. But whether the new fishing season will begin during the first week of August as in the past is a million dollar question that has no answer as yet.

There are about 1,200 boats in the fishing dock in the city and 1,800 more at Malpe. They include purse seine and trawl boats. As much as 90 per cent of people working on these boats are from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Odisha. Only a small percentage of the workforce is made of locals.

The workers had returned to their hometowns during the lockdown. Even if they return now, they need to be in quarantine for 14 days before they can start working. It is not easy to bring back about 4,000 workers from other states and meet their expenses during the quarantine period.

Everyone knows and the fishermen leaders themselves confess that once the fishing business begins, maintaining social distance becomes impossible. People come in droves, and the crowd is too huge to manage. If the fishing port area is sealed down after the fishing season begins, boat owners and workers will face heavy losses.

A meeting of various fisheries organizations has been convened in the city to discuss the challenges faced in beginning the new fishing season on July 29. Trawler boats and purse seine boat owners, fresh fish dealers, fish exporting companies, fish mill representatives etc will participate.

Mangalore Trawl Boat Fishermen's Association president Nithin Kumar said that after the meeting, discussions will be held with the fisheries minister and district administration before arriving at a decision.