After Covid, cold wave puts fishermen out of work

HYDERABAD: For Hashim Lakhio, a fisherman from Rehri Mayan Village Karachi, the year 2020 has brought many challenges, from the lockdown to curb the new coronavirus pandemic to the recent cold wave that inflicted idleness on hundreds.

“We usually follow the fishing season of the year from the first week of August. During the current year, besides other challenges, we have witnessed a change in water.”

Lakhio’s new year starts in August, when fishing communities resume going out to the sea to catch fish.

He said fishermen usually considered the months of August, September, October and December better for earning their livelihood, as the sea offers a higher catch. During these months, the fishing families arranged for weddings or planned to renovate their businesses or shelters.

As the weather gets colder, fish move to the bottom of the coral reef, which means declining catch. Thus, fishermen wait for the weather to get warmer.

He pointed out that as it keeps getting colder, few boats would venture out for a catch. “Those that do go out, may return empty handed,” Lakhio added.

Fishermen resume activities in February, and continue till May. For them, June and July are no activity months, as the government bans fishing due to the breeding season of the most precious fish species. During these two months, community people usually stay idle at homes, waiting for the new season in August.

Gul Hassan, another fisherman from the same locality talking about the status of shrimp catch, said it has declined even in normal season. Many traders who usually buy and sell shrimps at local markets have shut their shops in Rehri and Ibrahim Hydri, the largest localities of fishermen.

He said almost all shrimp-peeling centres in the coastal villages were not functional any more, which had rendered a large number of community women jobless. The centres either closed because of declining catch or due to the larger seafood processing units.

Hassan said they mostly followed the birds flying over the sea waves when tracing fish stock in the water. “We see their presence as a sign of the presence of fish stock at the point and move our boats to put out our nets,” he said. “These are birds are our guides.”

As the sun goes down on 2020, fishermen hope they would have a better year ahead, which would bring them hope and prosperity for their families.

Waheed Baradia of Ibrahim Hydri said fishermen were busy in their traditional practices, but lockdown restrictions had disrupted their work routines.

Hundreds of fishermen stayed idle at home this year because of restrictions on seafood exports, he said.

According to Waheed, declining fish catch could be measured from the facts that poultry feed and fishmeal manufacturers were unable to access higher quantity of trash fish from the 350km long coastal waters of Sindh. “Therefore, they buy fish from Son Mayani and Dam Bunder, Lasbela, Balochistan province to run their manufacturing units,” he added.

There are around 30 Katra boats only in Ibrahim Hydri that are not operating. These boats used destructive nets to catch all sized seafood products.

Each Katra boat carries 25-30 crew members in a trip. Prior to the pandemic restrictions, these Katras docked fully loaded with a variety of catch. Crew members earned enough too.

But now, all that has changed. Many of the crew members are sitting idle at home with no safety net to fall back on.

Some experts also have expressed concerns over the increasing demand of fishmeal and fish oil, which might put further pressure on the already threatened fish stock in the marine waters. They predict the fish may become a costlier product than other food products in future, if the situation continues for a long time.

Elderly fishermen call the change in marine water and the current cold wave a natural phenomenon, which might end after a short time. Recently, they said one large boat alone caught a haul that was big enough for four fishing vessels. The crew had to call other boats from the market, as their own boat did not have the capacity to carry the whole load.

However, the fact remains that hundreds of people living in the coastal communities were sitting idle at home. Natural weather patterns, increasing marine pollution, overfishing, and use of harmful fishing gear among other things threatened their livelihoods.

Experts call on the government to support this important economic sector and to motivate fishermen towards adopting more sustainable ways of fishing to save their natural resources and to transfer the resources and knowledge to to future generations.