The COVID-19 lockdown has badly affected the fishing community living along the State’s coast. The lockdown has virtually deprived them of their means of livelihood. Although the State government has eased the restrictions on fishing, it has not brought any relief to the nearly one million strong men and women who depend on fishery in the State.
All fishing boats, irrespective of their size and nature, are at anchorage at harbours along the coast of Kerala. Fishermen have stopped going fishing ever since the government declared the lockdown. Even though the government has permitted fishing in small boats with restrictions, very few men are venturing out into the sea as selling fish would continue to remain a big problem.
“It is not that we can’t go fishing. In the present condition, if we bring fish in boats, we will have to bury it under soil as the selling movement has come to a halt,” said Hamza Koya, a fisherman from Parappanangadi.
According to figures provided by the Matsya Thozhilali Federation affiliated to the Swatanthra Thozhilali Union, there are about 1.86 lakh seagoing fishermen in Kerala, and many more lakhs are dependent on them.
“It’s virtual poverty. They have no other means. The entire community has been dependent on the daily catch they haul from the Arabian Sea. Their survival appears bleak without some solid support from the government,” said Ummer Ottummal, State president of the Matsya Thozhilali Federation.
As many 12,000 mechanised boats are currently lying at anchorage. While nearly 2,000 boats with inboard engines have stopped working, as many as 16,000 boats with outboard engines too are at rest. Over 40 men usually go fishing in an inboard engine boat, but they do not usually go into deeper seas as mechanized boats go.
COVID-19 scare has instilled a fear among the fishing community. If members are to go in home quarantine, it will become hard for them as their homes are too small for such an act of isolation. Sea going men of the families usually sleep on the beaches during non-monsoon months.
“The food distributed through community kitchen too is not meant for us. This lockdown has literally driven us to penury,” said Abdul Nisar, a fisherman at Ponnani.
