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Fish harvesting plummets alarmingly in Bay of Bengal
Tiger prawns, pomfret and ilsa which was relished all over the country and abroad till recently will now be thing of past. Reports from various quarters suggest that the harvesting in the Bay of Bengal off Andhra Pradesh has fallen drastically during the last few years. Marine products contribute 20 percent of the total exports.
Visakhapatnam: Tiger prawns, pomfret and ilsa which was relished all over the country and abroad till recently will now be thing of past. Reports from various quarters suggest that the harvesting in the Bay of Bengal off Andhra Pradesh has fallen drastically during the last few years. Marine products contribute 20 percent of the total exports.
Representatives of fisherfolk associations stated that more than 75 percent of the mechanised boats are stranded at the AP harbours due to low catch and high input costs. There are 1500 mechanised boats in the state of which 700 are located in the Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour. Around 5,000 beach landing crafts with outboard engine are also operating and of them 1500 are in Visakhapatnam district.
Recently many trawlers have been converted into mechanised boats in Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Nizamapatnam. And each mechanised boat is losing Rs 30,000 on an average in a single voyage, said President of Visakha Dolphin Boat Operators Association Ch Satyanarayana Murthy.
Talking to this correspondent here on Saturday, Murthy said good varietieses of fish have disappeared from the coast and local boat operators from Andhra Pradesh are going as far as Paradeep. Those operating close to the Visakhapatnam coast have to compete with fishermen from Kakinada, Machilipatnam and other places.
Few years ago, around 20 tonnes of fish was landing at the Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour alone and now the quantity has come down to seven to nine tonnes. Around two lakh people are directly or indirectly depending on fishing and due to the adverse conditions many are becoming daily wage earners in the state.
Citing reasons for the low catch, Murthy said untreated effluents from pharmaceutical industries flowing into the sea from Bhimili to Pudimadaka has affected the marine life on the Vizag coast whereas pollution from aquafarms in East and West Godavari and oil rigging off Kakinada added more pollution . There is also no control on oil spillage in the sea, he added.
On behalf of the Association, Murthy said several representations were given to the government seeking regulation on pollution, subsidies on the inputs and amendment to the Maritime Regulation Act which would cut down some illegal practices.
`Pollution is not the main reason for low harvesting. There are fish in the Bay and the boat operators have to go to the right place,’’ said Dr S Ghosh, senior scientist in charge of Central Marine Fish Research Institute.He said CMFRI made several recommendations to the fisheries department but none of them were implemented.
Scientist in charge of Central Institute for Fisheries Technology Dr R Raghu Prakash admitted that the catch has fallen due to climate change that has taken place over the years. He also said net and fleet sizes are not being regulated and the fishermen are not following the zones which have been earmarked for various sizes of boats.
``It is true that per boat catch has fallen due the mismanagement of resources. The trawling has to be stopped close to the coast and the operators have to resort to mid-water trawling where a diversity of fish can be harvested. It is also time for them to move to Tuna harvesting as it would fetch more money in the market,’’ he added.
By KMP Patnaik
