‘10K tonnes of fish dumped back at sea during lockdown’

Around 10,000 metric tonnes of fresh fish catch has been dumped back into the sea during the first week of the lockdown, imposed owing to the coronavirus outbreak.

Around 10,000 metric tonnes of fresh fish catch has been dumped back into the sea during the first week of the lockdown, imposed owing to the coronavirus outbreak.

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Lack of refrigeration facilities, packing and transportation or acquisition of ice are said to be the reasons behind the step.

The estimates have been revealed by the National Fishermen’s Forum (NFF) and National Purse Seine Fishermen Welfare Association (NPSFWA), based on information from leaders of the fishing community from every coastal district in Maharashtra, from March 22 to Sunday.

After collating the data, the two fishermen bodies submitted the details to the state fisheries department on Sunday.

The fisheries department said a circular would be issued on Tuesday to all district collectors to ensure that there is no wastage of fish.

“The decision was taken in Mantralaya on Monday, and all the fishing activities will continue. We have received reports of fresh catch being dumped. All help will be provided to them. Our request is that consumers and fisher folk must maintain social distancing during this crisis,” said Rajendra Jadhav, joint commissioner, fisheries.

On Sunday, the Centre published a notification, clarifying that the transportation of all goods­ – essential and non-essential – have been allowed during the lockdown. However, experts believe the notification has come quite late in the day.

“It is too late now. All the labourers employed in the market have left. There are no cold storage services. Boats are idling and do not have enough manpower,” said an NFF member from Mumbai.

“While the safety of citizens is of utmost importance, the planning involved in the execution the lockdown has been poor. The entire fishing industry is on the verge of collapse. We are looking at losses worth ₹1,000 crore for the next two months, followed by fishing restrictions during monsoon,” said Ganesh Nakhawa, chairman, NPSFWA. Maharashtra is one of the leading marine fish capturing states in the country with 2.95 lakh tonnes worth of catch in 2018.