Fishermen unhappy over poor fish catch

Visakhapatnam: Two weeks after the 60-days fishing ban, fishermen of Visakhapatnam region are very unhappy over the poor catch of fish in the blue waters. Due to lack of quality and good catch, the seafood lovers are expressing displeasure over the high prices of seafood varieties.

The catch constitutes small fish, low quality prawn and less quantity of popular varieties. The price of seafood, particularly fish have soared of late, keeping most popular varieties of fish out of consumers reach even after the fishing season started with big hopes.

The mouth-watering popular varieties including Silver Pomfret, popular with local name as Chanduva fish price is Rs 1,000 per kg at the fishing harbour and it was around Rs 1,200 to 1,300 a kg in retail markets.

Similarly, the price of another well-liked fish variety Seer (Konam) is around Rs 600-800 per kg. Vagolu Simhachalam, a fisherman at Visakhapatnam fishing harbour, attributed the rise in prices of popular varieties to shrinking catch.

“The boats are returning not only with less catch but also with no popular varieties. The fishermen are witnessing this situation first time after fishing ban,” Simhachalam lamented. Silver pomfret variety fish and good quality prawn and a few more popular varieties of seafood were not found in the catch.

The popular varieties of fish have turned dearer due to poor catch and there was no option except wait for a couple of weeks for relishing the seafood delicacies, said R Hanumanthu, a professional fisherman venturing into sea from Visakhapatnam fishing harbour.