Kollam: The fishermen of Kerala, who are fondly called the 'Army of Kerala' after their heroic rescue works during the 2018 floods, are now in dire straits. The increasing diesel prices, coupled with a hike in the government registration fee, have forced many of them to sell their boats to scrap dealers. More than 300 boats have already been sold to such scrap dealers at Rs. 40.50 per kilogram. Boat scrapping units are coming up at almost all fishing harbors in the state as more boat owners are coming forward to sell their boats to scrap dealers.
When these boats are anchored on the shore for a longer time, they get damaged due to rust and the fishermen have no other way but to sell them as scrap. The fishing sector in Kerala had just started to breathe easy again after its long struggle against adverse weather conditions and the Covid pandemic. The Kerala and Tamil Nadu coasts have seen an unprecedented number of cyclones in recent years, that had considerably reduced the number of days available for fishing. Now, they are back to square one due to the high cost of fuel. The reduction in fish catch and huge diesel cost make fishing highly unviable.
Fishermen are selling their boats to steel companies based in Palakkad and Tamil Nadu. Earlier there were only two boat scrapping yards in the Kollam district, now there are 12 such scrapping units. Two such yards have come up in Thoppumpadi in Kochi and more units are coming up at Kozhikode, Kannur, and Beypore.
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A 70-feet long boat that is used in deep-sea fishing would weigh around 18 to 20 tonnes. Fishermen say for deep sea fishing, a boat needs 600 liters of diesel per day and for shallow-water fishing-150 liters per day. Deep-sea fishing would last for almost a week and each boat will have to use 3000 liters of diesel for this.
In addition to the fuel costs, the increase in prices of nets, rope, spare parts, and other equipment used for fishing is also making life difficult for fishermen. Fishermen say there has been a considerable decrease in fish yield and each trip to the sea is only causing further loss to them.
About 40-70 fishermen go fishing in a boat, with fishing as their only source of revenue. The All Kerala Boat Operators Association has urged the Centre and State governments to take immediate steps to save the mechanized boat sector, demanding a fuel subsidy for the fishing sector.
