HYDERABAD: After an almost three-month gap starting in early March, fishermen have started catching crabs in the muddy islands and mangroves for selling in the local market.
According to community activists, crab species, which fishermen supply through local traders, are an all time favourite in urban markets.
Usually, a large number of fishermen, mostly young cadre catch mud crabs on far-flung beaches along coastal towns like Keti Bunder, Kharochhan, Shah Bunder in Sujawal and Thatta districts, and parts of Karachi. But the lockdown has impacted their daily life and livelihood.
These workers are in shock as they have been unable to find customers for the delicacy amid the lockdown.
Sindh government has lifted ban on fishing during June, and allowed boat owners to move to the sea. However, fishermen lament the lack of government regulation as far as rates of fish were concerned.
Asif Bhatti, president, Native Indigenous Fishermen Association (Nifa), said, “We are receiving rates of seafood products, which were set 20 years back in 1999.”
He urged the federal and provincial governments to resolve the price issue, keeping in mind the problems faced by fishermen.
“Before lockdown, we sold kidi (shrimps) at Rs1,100/kg, which we are now forced to sell at Rs600 only. We face similar problems with other fish species, as stakeholders, including seafood processing units, traders and middlemen benefit instead of fishermen, who put their lives at risk in different weathers to bring these valuable food items to the market,” he said.
Traders buy normal crabs weighing 300 grams at Rs300 each, while crabs weighing less than 300 grams are bought at Rs150 each, depending on size and weight. In winter fishermen get higher rates fir crabs due to higher demand. However, traders were reluctant to share their sell price in the consumer markets.
Shahzado Otho, a community activist from Keti Bunder said for the first time in recent history, fish stock in the sea has improved and fishermen were enjoying higher catch on each trip, but there was a shortage of buyers in the market.
He cited the example of high quality shrimps, which were mostly bought by exporters. “Since exports are banned, those shrimps were being sold in the local market at lower rates,” he explained.
Otho also held the dwindling restaurant businesses across the country responsible for lower demand for seafood products.
In view of the lockdown and lower demand, fishing and boating activities have remained limited as well, while low effluent flows from industrial areas too have benefitted marine life.
Many seafood processing units that were associated with exports were also closed, which Otho said had created hurdles for fishermen in running their day to day expenses.
Akhtar Shaikh, a community activist of Rehri Mayan, Karachi said that even though rates for seafood had declined considerably, fishermen were able to bring in more catch, and thus the crewmembers of boats were able to earn a good share.
He said small boats brought catch of up to 100-200 kilogram, depending on boat size and crew members.
Similarly, larger boats bring heavy catch measuring 10,000-12000kg, including trash, normal fish and variety of shrimps, Shaikh said.
Presently, despite the fact that the weather on the sea was not normal yet, almost all fishing boats were moving to the open waters for fishing activities, with crews hoping for a good and lucrative haul.
However, to fully benefit from the bounties of the sea, fishermen demand to revise the rates of seafood products. Fishermen said that if the government does not update rates for their products, they would continue to be exploited by the middlemen and processing units from the jetties till the market.
Some elderly fishermen call it planned exploitation.
Majeed Motani, a senior boat captain and owner of a few boats, calls it a monopoly of traders at the main market, which deprives the fishermen of their right.
He said fishermen were frightened that once the government imposes the ban on fishing from the beginning of July next month, their lives would become far more uncertain.
Fishermen believe that since there is no subsidy at any level, fishermen are facing hardships, especially during disasters like the current health emergency.
They demand the government to at least set bottom rates for seafood products to ensure that the fishing community remains safely and sustainably in the current pandemic.
