UDUPI: Fishermen at Malpe are a chastened lot. The fish catch by boats leaving Malpe fishing harbour in the financial year 2004-05 has declined.

The fish catch in the financial year 2003-04 was 45,331 tonnes, valued at Rs. 76.62 crores. But in 2004-05, it declined to 44,961 tonnes and is estimated at Rs. 75.25 crores.

The Assistant Director of Fisheries (Grade 1) at Malpe Fishing Harbour, K. Krishnaraj Puranik, said on Saturday that the fall in the fish catch was more in the months of November and December 2004, which was made up by good catch in the following months.

Malpe is the biggest fishing harbour in the State. According to the figures made available by the Malpe Fishermen's Association, there are 312 deep sea trawlers, 76 purse seine boats and 184 fishing boats at Malpe. According to Mr. Puranik, there are 1,148 boats at Malpe, which includes 78 purse seine boats, 190 small trawlers, 330 deep sea trawlers, 120 gilnet boats and 430 country boats with outboard engines.

There are over 5,300 fishermen directly involved in fishing at Malpe. Nearly 30,000 fishermen from 27 nearby villages work at the Malpe harbour. The fishermen say that in 2004-05, deep sea trawlers managed to break even, but the purse seine and small boats were affected by the fall in fish catch.

There was a drop of 50 per cent in mackerel catch. The cuttle fish catch also decreased. Only deep sea trawlers managed to catch cuttle fish in March, April and May. Only the catch of small sardines had increased.

The situation would have been worse but for the increase in the prices of some fish. The pink perch, which was sold at Rs. 7 a kg in 2003-04, was sold at Rs. 14 a kg in 2004-05.

According to the Association, the fishermen caught an estimated 7,000 tonnes of sardines, 800 tonnes of mackerels, 3,000 tonnes of ribbon fish, 150 tonnes of sear fish, 410 tonnes of prawns, 2,600 tonnes of squids and cuttle fish, 12,000 tonnes of pink perch and 13,000 tonnes of miscellaneous fish in 2004-05.

The Secretary of the Malpe Fishermen's Association, Janardhan Kanchan, said the increase in diesel prices had affected fishermen. Besides the export price for fish had come down. The fish catch did not appear to have been affected by the tsunami, which hit the Eastern Coast of the country. However, the delay in the monsoon this year may affect fish production.

Presently, the State Government is providing 55,000 kilolitres of diesel. This is getting exhausted by February. The Department of Fisheries has informed the Government that an additional 12,500 kilolitres of diesel is required. The Association and other fishermen's organisations will submit a memorandum to the Government to increase the quantity of diesel being supplied to the fishermen to 67,500 kilolitres, Mr. Kanchan added.

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