Is Maharashtra Heading Towards ‘Fish Drought’?

Jayashree Bandhkar, 67 years old, sells fish in the Malwan market in Mahrashtra’s Sindhudurga district. She has been in the fishing business since her childhood. "The men from our family used to go for fishing and we would sell it. But now my two boys work for others. There is no fish in the sea. I buy fish in auction and sit here for selling," she said.

Her statement may seem odd, looking at the availability of fish at the nearby market. But Jayashree's story is the story of thousands of traditional fishermen in Maharashtra. Their livelihood is under threat from high-speed boat fishing which go into the deep sea with purse seine nets (a large wall of netting deployed around an entire area or school of fish) as well as LED lights. The situation is so worrying that fish production has dropped to just 20% now.

NewsClick met with a group of fishermen at Wayari-Bhutnath village in Malwan tehsil of Sindhudurga district. The first sea fort of India, Sindhudurg which was built by Shivaji around 354 years ago, falls within this village. The fishermen were clearing their traditional nets and picking fish caught in it, when this reporter approached them.

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"We used to go for fishing late in the night around 2 AM. By 6 AM, our group of five or six fishermen would have caught enough fish. However, what is happening now is destroying our traditional fishing. High speed trawlers come with purse seine nets and they catch all the fish in the area. We are left with nothing," said Mithun Malandkar, one of the local fishermen.

Purse seine nets are different from the traditional nets used for fishing. Purse seine nets are very thick nets with just 2 to 5 cm gap. While, the traditional net is much thinner in comparison, having an almost 2 inch gap. So, in traditional net, fry (newly hatched fish) can easily pass through. But in purse seine, all fish are caught. This means that everything that comes in between the net are killed. Even the young hatchling are caught.

Traditional fishermen are facing a fish drought as purse seine fishing is killing everything. But in Maharashtra, there are only some 700 hundred purse seine licenses. But according to many traditional fishermen, the number of fishermen who are into purse seine fishing are at least 10 times more than the registered fishermen.

Affect on Business

The group of fishermen NewsClick met in Wayari Bhutnath claimed that only 20% of their business is left now. Around 4-6 members depend on one boat. In this single village, there are almost 500 boats which means that around 1,800 to 2,000 families are dependent on traditional fishing. Each boat has a total expense of Rs 1,200-1,600 per day for fishing. This includes the cost of fuel for the boat's machine. So, if they could earn Rs 4,000 per day then per person earns Rs 500 on an average per day.

A group of fishermen, who are back from fishing, in Wayari Bhutnath village. 

"However, in this season, we haven't seen business of worth more than Rs 3,000 per day. For us, October will be the last month of business as fish go into the deep sea afterwards to survive the increasing heat. So for us, August, September and October are the main months to do business. It is already mid-October, and you can imagine, if nobody has earned more than Rs 3,000 then it is nothing but a fish drought," said Mithun Malandkar.

There are reports that trawlers from Goa, Karnataka and even Kerala sometimes cross the borders of these states in the sea and come to the fishing borders of Maharashtra. Every state has its border as well as 12 nautical miles in the sea. But, trawlers entering in these 12 nautical miles are becoming a serious threat to these small fishermen.

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Another serious challenge that the entire marine ecological system is currently facing is LED fishing. It is not just affecting the fishing business, but also endangering the life of various species including turtles. The big trawlers are dropping LED lights in the sea to catch fish. As several marine species are accustomed to swimming in the direction of lights, often they would get involved in accidents or even lose sight.

Mahendra Paradkar, local journalist and activist working for the welfare of fishermen, observed that these lights are the main reason behind the increasing number of dead turtles flowing to beaches. "We have observed that these turtles or other fish have lost their eyes. Just as human eyes develop cataract, the eyes of these dead marine animals had also gone completely white. This indicates to only one direction, that the LED lights are affecting their eyes, resulting in mega killing of these species,” Paradkar told NewsClick.

Nexus between Fishery Department and Big Trawlers

It should be noted that LED fishing is totally banned in Maharashtra. But fishermen allege that the ban exists only on paper. There is no implementation on ground, as the Fishery Department is hand-in-gloves with the trawlers. Ultimately, this nexus hurts the interests of small fishermen and also becomes the reason for ecological disasters.

Jayashree, who sells fish in Malwan’s fish market, recalls her husband and brothers-in-law coming back home with boat full of fish. She said, “It hasn’t been too long, just 10-15 years back. But, now that has changed. Our generation could engage in fishing because our forefathers had behaved responsibly. They never killed fish hatchlings and never destroyed other animals under the sea. But this generation's greed has brought life under threat. I fear that the day is not so far when my grandchildren won’t be able to see any fish, and only photos and videos will be left.”