Escalating cost of fresh fish upends ordinary household budgets

Lunch is rarely satisfactory for a significant portion of Keralites without a side dish of freshly caught bay fish.

But putting fish on the table for the family seriously disrupts carefully calibrated household budgets. The decline in catch during the monsoon season has made fresh fish a premium commodity in the city.

Dileef Rehman, a fishmonger who sources his catch from Vizhinjam, says that with the seasonal trawling ban in place, most of the daily catch comes from traditional fishing boats, including catamarans made of wood and boats made from discarded styrofoam containers, which set out to sea at dusk and return at dawn.

“Artisanal fishermen who go to sea with small boats use fishing rods and fishing hooks instead of nets, which they have difficulty pulling ashore. Moreover, the storage capacity of the boats is very less compared to ships with outboard motors and, of course, deep-sea trawlers,” he says.

Kerala Swatantra Matsya Thozhilali Union State President Jackson Pollayil said the southwest monsoon has made coastal waters extremely choppy, making normal fishing operations, including the launching of outboard motor boats and paddle boats, extremely dangerous. “The decline in catches threatens to disrupt the livelihoods of fishmongers and deep-sea fishermen, the majority of whom are women,” he says.

Mr Pollayil said the effect of this was a marked decline in daily catch and a corresponding increase in fish prices. “Boats returning with 20 to 25 boxes of fish dock at fish landing centres, holding not more than three or four boxes. The harsh season has witnessed a noticeable decline in surface and deep-sea fish varieties,” he says.

Santosh Victor, a fish vendor at Palayam market, says prices of all fish, including sardines, have gone through the roof. “The price of sardine at ₹150 per kg goes up to ₹480 on some lean days,” he says. The price of mackerel, an affordable staple on the lunch table and hotel menus, touched ₹700 last week. The price of tuna, anchovies and other staples has increased exponentially, he said.

Swaroop Ashraf, owner of a hotel in Palayam, said rising costs of fish, cooking gas and meat have forced hoteliers like him to reduce the quantity offered to stabilize prices so that they do not lose regular customers.