Nochikuppam fishermen urge GCC to allow them to vend fish as soon as they land

Fishermen in Nochikuppam protest for the right to sell fish directly on shore, facing challenges from authorities.

Fishermen of Nochikuppam have not been to the sea for three days demanding that their right to sell fish directly as they land on the shore be restored.

Ethiraj, a fisherman, said that the fishing hamlet had 150 boats and it would not be possible for the men to drag the fish for a distance of about 750 metres to the market and then vend them there. The fish and the net will get damaged.

“We sell the fish as soon as we land. We ensure that while the fish is removed from the net, they are dropped onto a plastic sheet and sold off then and there. These are small-sized fish that are caught close to the coast and depending on the season the men go on one or two trips a day,” he said.

K. Bharathi, a resident, said that these men do not have permanent shops or ice boxes. “You can see customers waiting to pick up the fresh catch as the fish is being untangled from the net. The newly-constructed market will not be a suitable place for these men.”

A section of fishermen complained that the police and the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) staff were not allowing them to sell fish from the nets. GCC Commissioner J. Kumaraguruparan said that those selling fish after landing on the shore can do so without any hassle. “We cannot permit ice boxes on the road or the sands. It is for them that the market has been constructed,” he said.