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Livelihoods of fishermen sink deep in troubled waters
While the ship disaster has left small and medium scale fishermen in the western and northwestern coasts struggling to keep their livelihoods afloat, the demand for deep sea fish has triggered a price increase in some varieties.
Prices of deep sea fish such as tuna, snapper, seer fish (thora), paraw, thalapath (sailfish) continue to soar due to short supply and increased demand while smaller fish such as herrings, sardines, small mullet, prawns, crabs and other crustaceans are seeing a price drop.
Peliyagoda: Lots of fish, no buyers. Pic by Eshan Fernando
In the retail market, paraw is sold at an average of Rs. 1350 per kilo whereas in June, last year a kilo was about Rs. 1250. Mullet is presently sold at Rs. 1375 a kilo an increase from last year’s Rs. 1230. A kilo of kelawalla is Rs. 1140 whereas it was Rs. 1107 last year. A kilo of thalapath is presently about Rs. 1392 , close to a hundred rupee increase from last year. A kilo of mora is now Rs. 1213 whereas last year it was Rs. 1018.
Prawn prices came down from last year’s Rs.1290 to Rs. 1250 a kilo and in some places sold at an even lesser rate. Balaya, small mullet, saalaya, linna fish prices are seeing a drop in prices. A kilo of Balaya is presently Rs. 620 a kilo, whereas it was Rs. 760 in the retail market.
“The seas are rough, during (warakan) season and ‘maa-del’ fishermen are reluctant to go deep sea fishing . The ship incident has resulted in people being wary about consuming fish. Therefore the livelihoods of small-scale fishermen have been severely affected,” said All-Ceylon Fisherfolk Trade Union secretary Dinesh Fernando.
“Fishermen are jobless, they cannot go to sea. In some cases their fishing gear is damaged by the plastic pellets from the sinking ship. Due to the lockdown, shops that sell fishing gear are closed. Travel restrictions have left them unable to even engage in other daily paid jobs on land,” he said.
He said the Government should take immediate measures to compensate fishermen affected by the ship disaster and also purchase fish from northern and eastern fishermen and ensure fish is available all over the country at reasonable prices.
“This is the fishing season in the seas of Kalpitiya, Mannar and northern and eastern seas and fish there are mostly safe to consume as well,” Mr. Fernando said.
At the wholesale fish market in Peliyagoda, fish traders complained of a drastic drop in the demand for fish.
“We have fish supplies, but few buyers. The Fisheries Corporation should step up to promote and distribute fish. They need to initiate an effective programme to purchase our fish,” a vendor said.
Meanwhile, the consumption of fish still remains a debatable topic.
Dr Lanka Wickremasinghe, Head of the Department of Aquaculture and Seafood Technology at the Ocean University of Sri Lanka, said consuming fish, especially fish caught in the seas off the coast affected by the pollution from the ship, should be avoided.
“One can argue that cleaning the gills and intestines will make the fish safe. But some chemicals can be absorbed into the flesh. Unless the chemicals released from the ship are thoroughly investigated, it is safe to stay away from consuming fish especially from the area exposed to plastic pellets and other chemicals. If people really want to consume fish, deep fried is recommended,” she said.
Thushan Kathurusinghe, Project Leader of the Turtle Conservation Project, said that consuming deep sea fish caught in multi-day trawlers in international waters is safe for consumption while fish caught close to the coast should be avoided for some time.