The depths deserve justice

An article issued on environmental interest, by MathiRaj

Recently, I’ve been offline as I was out researching for an upcoming novel of mine. The novel has a major share on the lives of fishing communities, so I visited every place from Kasimedu (of North Chennai), through Koovathur (near Pondicherry), Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tuitucorin, Tharuvaikulam all the way till Kanniyakumari, basically to places in the east coast line of the state of Tamil Nadu, that had fishing as the main source of income. I got to meet a lot of people, learn lot of new information, go into the sea to see how fishing is done. Honestly, comparing to the knowledge I had on this sector with that what I have now, I must say, we all honestly fail to recognize as to how dangerous and cursed this business is. Fishing as a recreation might be fun, but when it comes to depending on the sea to put food in your table, life is overflown with uncertainties. Safety, security, profit, happiness, dreams, all of that becomes a question.

With all due respect, we all know to some extent about the agony in the lives of Indian farmers, but we don’t realize that the agony of a farmer is just the tip of the ice berg to that of the agony of a fisherman. I am not saying that the agony of farmers aren’t something that matters, but I’m just saying that the agony of fishermen deserves the same notice which we give to the farmers’.

Because the sea can be cruel while overflowing with wealth, it is uncertain. One day it can reward you with catch that you can rely on for a month, other day it can just kill you.

With that being said, most of us who are updating ourselves with news might have come across the controversy behind the use of ‘Surukku madi valai’ or ‘Purse seine nets.’ The Tamil Nadu government had requested fishermen to avoid the use of this net which was earlier banned. Many districts have completely banned the use of this net, while some groups of fishing folk are protesting to allow the use of this net.

The reason for this net being banned is that it results in overfishing which eventually leads to certain species of fish going extinct and also affecting the catch of small-scale fishermen.

A veteran fisherman from Cuddalore district, Mr Apple Kanniyappan states that Trawl nets are rather more dangerous compared to Purse Seine nets because in comparison, the gap between the holes of Trawl nets are very much smaller than the gaps between the holes of Purse Seine nets. Other reason he stated to support this was that Trawl nets have otter boards, which are heavy wooden boards that pull the net to the bottom of the sea bed to cover a wider area to increase the catch. In the process, these heavy board drags as the boat sails forward, breaking anything that comes its way to crumbs. This acts as a major reason for the depletion and deterioration of coral reefs in the Indian seas. He confessed to have seen fish species that were never seen before when Trawl nets were used, this was not the case when Purse Seine nets were used.

As of employment opportunities, Purse Seine nets require three times more workers than Trawl nets. Three times the job opportunities are being lost when fishermen use Trawl nets rather than Purse Seine nets.

To ensure that I provide the readers with true facts, I enquired more people about this. Many fishermen supported Mr Apple Kanniyappan’s views. However, in Tharuvaikulam, a fishing centered place near Tuticorin, Mr Joseph and Mr Raj, two other veteran fishermen had conflict of views. They stated that both Surukku valai and Trawl nets are liable to be banned from use, however, they supported the use of Sevil valai, which according to them is an ideal option.

Trying to understand the controversy behind these nets, the answer I got was the simple lack of unity between fishing communities and hastily taken decisions. I initially began gathering facts for this article to formulate an article which concludes which net is the ideal net that offers good profit at the same time not compromising on the natural resources. But now, I am convinced that I am not the one to conclude that, because we don’t want another hasty decision to be taken.

Hence, through this article, I request the Tamil Nadu state Government to focus more on this, send in marine biologists and marine engineers to better understand and compare the results among using all these nets to conclude as to which net is the most ideal one for everyone to use. This is not just my request, but the request of every fisherman I ever met, I request the Tamil Nadu state Government on behalf. of all the fishermen in the state.

Two reasons why this is an issue that needs quick attention, one, the justice which fishermen deserve, the other one, we must not have our future generations asking us, “What is a fish?"