The oil spill and the subsequent ban on fish by the Maharashtra government and civic body have adversely impacted fish supply in Mumbai.
For the last one week, while the fishermen in Mumbai’s suburbs were denied of their livelihood, the fish-eating population of the city could barely have a bite of any catch. This, in spite of the fact that most of the city’s fish arrive from other states like Karnataka, Gujarat, Goa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
Around 60 fish markets across Mumbai were empty for the last week and the industry has had an estimated loss of Rs 60-80 crore. According to the Maharashtra Fishermen Action Committee, Mumbai’s daily consumption is estimated at 250 tonnes, but only 5-10 tonnes of fish arrived in the city during last week. “This was so because of the ban. Fish from other states were not allowed to enter the city,” said a source.
A large number of retail shops who had a stock of frozen fish also made a loss in selling their merchandise at a low price following the ban, as they were forced to clear the stock.
However, now things are looking brighter, with about 150 tonnes of fish arriving in Mumbai on Sunday.
Sources at the state fisheries department and BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation did not dispute the numbers. They said Mumbaikars were asked not to eat fish because they could fall ill. But, officials at the fisheries department could not say how fish from other states could have affected the health of the city population.
Damodar Tandel and Pradip Tapke, office bearers of the committee slammed the state government and Mumbai civic body for its advisory. “This impacted arrival of fresh and frozen fish from the rest of Maharashtra — both sea and fresh water fish — as well as from other parts of the country.”
From June 10 to August 15 deep sea fishing by motor boats and trawlers has been banned in Mumbai and Maharahstra. However, there is no ban on fishing by small and marginal fishermen who net their catch along the coastline in small boats.
“The ban on eating fish even affected the small and marginal fishermen as there were no takers,” said Tandel. “Taking into consideration a monthly income of Rs 10,000 by these small and marginal fishermen, we want the government to compensate this loss.”
“Fish is exported to the Gulf, Japan and USA. Exporters who generally purchase fish in wholesale kept away all of last week because they did not get adequate orders due to the ban on fish consumption,” he added.
A shop owner from south Mumbai, said he made losses of up to Rs 2 lakh last week. “We sell about 4,000 kg of fish comprising white pomfret, patta, surmai, bijira, pala and tuna. However, last week we did not get even 100 kg of fish. Supply from Orissa, Chennai and Andhra was barred,” he said.
Due to the ban, he had to sell white pomfret at Rs 150 per kg against the Rs 400 per kg, bijira at Rs 100 per kg against Rs 300 per kg, patta at Rs 250 per kg against Rs 400 per kg and surmai at Rs 200 per kg against Rs 400 per kg.
