Udupi: Fishermen repair their nets and boats as they wait for the monsoon to end

Fishermen in Udupi's Malpe harbour in the state of Karnataka can be seen preparing for their next fishing expedition as they wait for the monsoon to get over. Several tasks need to be attended to before setting out to sea, such as fixing nets and repairing their boats.

The fishing community goes out to sea for 10 months, but during the monsoon, fishing is banned due to the rough sea and the spawning season.

According to a Fishworkers Union functionary, there are a total of 15,000 families who come here to work here and there are around 2000 boats here. "In those 2000 boats, there are speed boats, deep sea boats, 370 fishing boats, small boats and trawlers. One boat requires 30 persons, a speed boat requires 12 persons, 370 fishing boat requires 6 persons and a small boat requires 5 people."  

Due to the scarcity of jobs fishermen use the time to fix their nets and repair their boats.  

"We are net makers and do work related to nets, our household runs with this. For 2 months we do this work daily," a fishing net maker says.

The fishing community in Udupi, which relies heavily on fishing, claims that very little help is received from the government during the off-season.

"Government gives no support here. The people who catch fish don't get anything from the government. till now there is nothing the government has given to us. if we die then the government gives just 1 lakh or 2 lakh rupees," a fisherman says. Shivanand Kundar, secretary, Workers union claims that the government was not giving any subsidies to them. "We make a boat worth Rs 1 crore - Rs 1.3 crore, there will be no subsidy from the government. If we go to a nationalised bank for loans they say that we have to pledge our boat, our house and our area. If there is a loss then the bank comes and seizes them."

The fishing community waits eagerly for the monsoon to be over so that they can go back to the sea and start earning their livelihood again.