Deepsea fishing in deep waters

The deepsea fishing industry in the country is in dire straits. The industry is facing huge losses with shrimp catches declining drastically during the current fishing season, apart from a fall in shrimp prices in the international market.

This uneconomical situation has made many trawlers and mechanised boats stop fishing, thus ending the fishing season early.

"At present, the deepsea fishing industry in the country is at a dying stage. If shrimp catches continue to decline, then most of the trawlers will vanish very soon. We need government support to restore the glory of the deepsea fishing industry," T N Chodhary, secretary of the Association of Indian Fishery Industry (AIFI), told Business Standard.

During the last season, all the deepsea fishing trawlers and mechanised boats put together contributed nearly Rs 500 crore worth of foreign exchange by way of shrimp exports, whereas this season it has halved to less than Rs 250 crore, seafood exporters association sources said.

Visakhapatnam, headquarters for the country's deepsea fishing industry, has more than 85 per cent of the country's deepsea fishing fleet located there for more than 20 years.

Nearly a decade ago, around 180 trawlers were engaged in Black Tiger Shrimp catches, but now the numbers have shrunk to around 70. Out of these, at present only around 60-62 trawlers are engaged in shrimp catches from the Visakhapatnam fishing harbour.

Also, there are about 2,800 mechanised boats operating in the state, with more than 600 mechanised boats operating from the Visakhapatnam fishing harbour. The remaining boats operate from Kakinada, Machilipatnam, Nizampatnam, Krishnapatnam and Nellore fishing harbours.

In the 40-year-old history of the trawler industry, the present season has been the worst with almost all trawler operators, who depend on Black Tiger shrimp, incurring huge losses due to the fall in shrimp catches and also due to the steep drop in shrimp prices in the international market, Chodhary said.

"Previously, shrimp catches were 16-20 tonnes for the three-month voyages for the big trawlers, but during this season the catches have dropped to 8-10 tonnes for the three-month voyages. Also, during the last season we got about Rs 300 per kg of shrimp, but this year we are getting only Rs 150 per kg due to a drop in prices in the international market. Besides, the increase in diesel price, which is Rs 15 per litre this season when compared to last season's price of Rs 11 per litre, have only increased our woes. All these adverse conditions have deeply affected the industry," he said.

"The trawlers in the east coast had started their fishing voyages for shrimps from June 1, 2003, after the 45 days conservation period . The fishing season should have ideally continued up to April 14, but during this year the season has ended during the September-October period. Only 15-20 trawlers are at present operating, while the remaining fishing vessels are anchored at the Vizag fishing harbour. If the central government does not take immediate measures, the deepsea fishing industry will soon vanish," he added.

On the other side, the mechanised boat operators are also facing severe financial problems due to a decline in shrimp catches, apart from the hike in oil prices.

"Previously each mechanised boat used to get 300-400 kg of shrimp per 10-day voyage, but during the current year we have got only 45-50 kg of shrimp. Consequently, more than 60 per cent of the mechanised boat fleet have stopped fishing in the middle of the season," P C Appa Rao, president of the Andhra Pradesh Mechanised Fishing Boat Operators' Association, told Business Standard.