Declining shrimp catch worries Rameswaram fishermen

MADURAI: Many fishermen in Rameswaram are worried over the declining shrimp catch after the 61-day annual fishing ban, which was expected to boost the count.

According to S Emarit, president, Rameswaram Mechanised Boats Fishermen Welfare Association, it was only about one-third of the average catch.

Usually, during these days, around 300 kilos of shrimp could be caught by a boat, but nowadays, it has come down to around 100 kg per boat.

Frustrated, he attributed the reasons for it to overfishing done by the country boats, which are equipped on a par with mechanised boats. When the sea was closed to facilitate breeding, how is that country boats are allowed to fish during the ban period, he wondered, saying that the fishing ban failed to serve its purpose.

He insisted that the partial ban on fishing doesn’t serve the purpose.

“If the ban needs to be more efficient and effective to serve its purpose, country boats should also be restricted from fishing,” Emarit told DT Next on Sunday.

Meanwhile, N Devadoss, president of Rameswaram Fishermen Cooperative Society, said, “It is not only the decline in catch, the price of shrimps has also suffered a drastic fall.”

Currently, a kilogram of ‘Flower shrimps’ is priced ranging from Rs 250 to Rs 300, whereas the same quantity fetched Rs 700 to Rs 800 prior to the ban.

For a long time now, shrimp trawlers in Rameswaram are mostly relying on some local seafood processing companies, who determine the market price of this seafood commodity.

‘We could not go beyond these seafood companies here to market this export quality shrimp for a fair and reasonable price,” Devadoss rued.

He urged the state government to create a free market for local shrimp in Rameswaram.