Kakinada’s fisherfolk land in troubled waters

Many crew have lost their livelihood as boat operators cut down on operations

Fishing activity has been more or less paralysed on the Kakinada coast with the steep rise in diesel prices. Due to the rising expenditure on deep-sea fishing, mechanised boat operators are skipping two trips a month, with thousands of crew members of fishing boats losing their livelihood in the process.

Since July, several hundreds of mechanised boats had to venture into the sea for fishing only once instead of thrice a month. The State government is now offering a subsidy of ₹9 per litre on diesel for marine fishing boats. The subsidy cap is 300 litres per month per mechanised boat that actually requires 3,000 litres per month for deep-sea fishing.

“At Kumbabhisekham landing point in Kakinada, at least 200 mechanised boats are now fishing only once a month. The expenditure on fishing has increased up to ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 per trip,” said Vasupalli Rambabu, president of Kumbabhisekham Fish Landing Centre. Each trip concludes within ten days.