The Hindu : Kerala News : Tsunami after-shocks haunt fishing harbours

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 13, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Tsunami after-shocks haunt fishing harbours

By Ignatius Pereira

KOLLAM, JAN. 12. Though the December 26 tsunami did not wreak much havoc on the Shakthikulangara and Neendakara twin fishing harbours here, these important fish landing points are still finding it difficult to recover from its after-effects.

The two harbours have remained deserted since December 15 when boat owners began an indefinite strike demanding fair prices for their catch. Though the strike was withdrawn on December 24 following talks with the Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, the tsunami and its after-effects have left the harbours with little fishing activities.

Apart from the boat owners and boat employees, the livelihood of hundreds of people depending directly or indirectly on the operations at the harbour has been hit.

The majority of those working on trawling boats based at Shakthikulangara and Neendakara hails from Alapad and Kayamkulam and from Kulachal in Tamil Nadu. These are areas badly hit by tsunami. So even days after the tsunami onslaught, the trawling boats in these harbours remain idle with no employees reporting for work.

Some of them were killed. Some others had their family members or relatives killed. Many had lost their houses.

And a few are not prepared to leave their families in relief camps.

For some of the boats that set sail for trawling, the situation at sea is frustrating.

Sea in a rage

They report that the sea still appears to be in a rage beneath the surface. There are strong undercurrents and the sea even whirls below the surface. Most of the nets cast have been wrenched by the undercurrents.

Even in pockets where the water below remains calm, the sea is barren. Hours of trawling yield little.

The boat employees fear that most of the marine life must have migrated to safer places. Each trawling trip results in huge losses for the owners.

Even if some fish are harvested, the catch fetches hardly any price. There has been a sharp fall in the demand for seafood.

The general secretary of the Kollam District Boat Owners Association, M. S. James, attributes the fall in price to the campaign against seafood.

Mr. James says that the barren sea and the canard against seafood have crippled the fishing industry. The industry can recover only through timely rehabilitation measures. He wants the Government to consider revoking the annual ban on monsoon trawling as one of the rehabilitation measures.

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