The sunrise off Keechankuppam fishing hamlet silhouetting the harbour in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu spelt a certain quietude. It was the 39th day of the 61-day moratorium on fishing along the eastern coast. This two-month ban on deep-sea trawling is intended to allow the ocean to breathe and breed life. Small boats can continue to venture into the shallow waters for fishing returning with minimal catch.
The annual ban on trawling also gives the fishermen time away from the sea; time for rest and leisure and a game of cards; time to mend their fishing nets in all hues of turquoise. Their boats are sent off to the yard for annual repairs, a lick of paint, or an overhaul.
But, for the fisherwomen, ban or no ban, work never ends. In the Keechankuppam fishing harbour, fisherwomen clamour for the shallow-water catch. They stack aluminium utensils with fish, take a “share-auto” to the main road, and go street-to-street selling the catch.
Some of the fisherwomen also take up the removal of invasive shrub Prosopis juliflora (seemai karuvelam) under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to keep the household running.
The fishing ban, which began on April 15, will come to an end on June 14.
Text by P.V. Srividya
