In Shandhakuda, a bustling habitation of fisherfolk in the port town of Paradip on India’s eastern coast, Chavakula Tatababu, 46, is frantically making calls to his crew aboard a fishing vessel. He awaits updates on their catch from the depths of the Bay of Bengal. It is the beginning of April, and the ban on shoreline fishing scheduled from April 15 to June 15 will soon kick in.
Disappointment sets in as reports from the seven crew members navigating the waters off Paradip, Odisha, indicate no significant haul. Tatababu, having already invested ₹30,000 in diesel and other provisions for the crew, anxiously calculates the potential loss. Without a catch worth ₹1 lakh in the deep sea, up to 100 kilometres out, this fishing expedition is poised to yield no substantial returns.
“The government will compensate us with ₹3,500 but that is not enough for a family of four,” says Tatababu, who is a second-generation migrant marine fisherman, one of about 400 hailing from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, who came to Odisha when the life was easier here.
