Mumbai:
The history of the Koli fishermen community of Maharashtra is about 700 years old. The people of this community, which has absorbed the ancient culture, are now dragging the traditional and only option of fishing like a burden. Women belonging to the community laugh about their problems, but the pain hidden behind that laughter comes to the fore. Decades old heritage is slowly sinking and the powerful fishermen of the sea who used to catch fish in their nets are themselves trapped in the web of crisis. Special report on fish, fishermen and conflict.
Women belonging to the Koli fishermen community say that now there is nothing left. There are no fish left. We are in debt. She says that her husband left his work early because our boat got destroyed. They are of no use now. There are no fish left nearby. He said that our children will not come into this business. Somehow they are teaching them by working as labourers.
Search for other options intensifies
Fishermen do the work of catching fish and bringing them to the shore. However, women do the work of transporting and selling those fish to the market. Women’s share in this work has been 70 percent, but in times of crisis, many women are looking for other options.
Women say that in our times, by looking at the weather, they used to tell which fish was in season and at what distance. Now if you go miles away you will find fish. From where will we poor people get so many resources? Compared to the previous market, our earnings have become less than half.
The problems of the customers are also no less. A customer said that fish has become expensive. We are daily eaters, now how to eat our favorite fish. The favorite fishes are not even left. Now pomfret, surmai, tuna have become very expensive.
compulsion to go far into the sea
Fishermen used to catch good fish in the creeks only. However, now the impact of sea and air pollution is such that they are being forced to go far away from the shore. This distance is so much that it is beyond the reach of a small boat. Fishermen who earlier used to catch their favorite fish within a radius of 10 kilometers in their small boats, now form an army of 18 to 25 people and go to a distance of about 1200 kilometers and sometimes even reach the Sri Lanka-Pakistan border.
This change means not only higher wages and more hours spent at sea, but also expenses worth lakhs, bigger boats, piles of ice, a month’s worth of rations, several liters of fuel and water, and going on a fishing mission carrying a lot of risk. Does matter.
Fisherman Shekhar Dhorlekar says that if even one person falls, his entire family gets ruined. If something happens or you fall, there is no help. That’s why no one wants to be in this business anymore. It is completely over. He said that the government should think something for us also.
Boats reduced by 50 percent
A fishing boat has returned with about 8 tonnes of fish after spending Rs 4 lakh. For this reason the crew is happy. The boat spent 15 days in the sea and got so many fish. However, fishes like Pomfret and Surmai, which were in demand, are now falling into the trap of the lucky ones only.
Fisherman Satish Koli says that expensive fish are not available much, but it does not matter, the expenses have been covered. Many times they have been returning empty handed.
The high cost of deep sea access and uncertain catches have made the profession increasingly unsustainable, with fishing boats declining by nearly 50 percent.
Dependence on North Indian laborers
Boat owner Dhaval Koli told that earlier there was no place to park the boat on the dock. I am drowned in a loan of Rs 28 lakh. The boat remained closed for two months and the workers left. Koli fishermen like Dhawal have remained in the fishing business but are now dependent on North Indian laborers to face the challenges of the deep sea. Gradually, North Indian laborers are making a place for themselves in the traditional occupations of the Koli community.
Dhaval Koli said that we are not getting labourers. Therefore they have to be brought from Bihar-Jharkhand. I keep half of the earnings and share the other half among them.
Ashok Kumar, a laborer from North India, said that this is our livelihood. It’s been two months since we arrived. We are hardworking and have the strength to bear every blow. Deepak Nishad said that perhaps no one else can show the strength that we show. That’s why we are needed here.
Migration changed due to pollution and vibration
Due to increased pollution in the water and vibrations caused by construction activities in the sea, the fish have changed their location in the last four years and have gone far away from the shore, but now the smog has made things worse in the last two-three weeks. The mist in the air over the sea is called sea fog. It forms when warm, moist air passes over cold water. Although this white blanket that surrounds Mumbai for almost a month clears up within a few hours of the morning if it is just fog, it remains like this 24 hours because it is a smog full of pollution. Due to this, the fishes move away from the shore in search of clean and soft water and the fishermen take risks and follow them.
Meteorological Department scientist Sunil Kamble presented his views on the argument of fishermen who say fog and cold water are the reasons for the changing location of fish.
What do scientists say?
Kamble said that there is no connection between fog and sea water temperature behind the change in direction of fishes. In this season, the water near the shore will remain relatively warm while the water away from the shore will be cold. The argument that fish are moving away from the shore towards warmer waters is not correct.
If we look for the real reasons, the city’s filth is getting dissolved in the sea. Drain water, plastic waste and poisonous chemicals released from industries are the main reasons for the drive away of fishes.
You will not believe seeing the condition of Thane Creek. White foam can be clearly seen in Thane Creek, about 37 km away. This water is found in the Arabian Sea. It is said that this water comes out from the water treatment plant after being treated i.e. clean. However, looking at its condition it is not clearly visible from anywhere. There is garbage everywhere.
100% more toxic than standard limits: Power
Environment warrior Nandkumar Power has collected samples from such areas and has come up with surprising results. He told that the report has come that the results of water samples are several hundred percent more toxic than the standard limit. Not only are the fishes moving away from the poison towards clean water, but they themselves are also becoming poisonous. Look, nano plastic has also been found in the human brain. Studies also say that many fishes themselves are victims of cancer, now if humans eat them, it is an invitation to cancer, so the same nets with which we used to catch fish are now used to extract garbage.
Rishi Aggarwal, director of Mumbai Sustainability Centre, said that water pollution plays a big role. About 70 percent we have to take it seriously.
Difficult to clean chemicals from water: Mishra
According to Shobhit Kumar Mishra of Adani Group’s Water Treatment Project, when chemicals get dissolved in water, it is difficult to clean. If you throw garbage, it will come out or on the shore, the chemicals will dissolve in the water and kill or poison the fish, hence there is a great need for treatment plants to clean the sea.
These nets are called “purse nets”, leaving behind the traditional methods, fishermen now use them. It costs around Rs 10 lakh, is laid in the sea and is pulled by a machine. However, it also drags small fishes and vegetation along with it, which is an important reason for the extinction of fishes.
Nandkumar Power says that this net destroys the fishes, it also pulls out such small fishes which have not been able to take the developed form of fish. This also stops reproduction. A place should be created inside the sea for their reproduction. Now everything is getting destroyed, so how will the fishes grow if they do not survive?
The vibrations of construction works and oil drilling machines near and inside the sea have also frightened the fishes.
Condition worsened due to construction: Bhoir
Chairman of Fishermen Society Colaba, Jayesh Bhoir said that ever since the construction of the coastal road has worsened the condition, it has not recovered and is getting worse. Everything has gone haywire. If so much construction work is going on in the sea, then where will the fish survive? Just as you think for the farmers, think for us too.
External pressure and internal challenges are breaking the Koli society. The new generation youth of the community are leaving the fishing business and selling ancestral lands for more money. Now what if their lands are not saved? Will the fishes not survive? If Koli fishermen do not survive, will we just read the decades-old traditional business and culture of this community in history? Maharashtra government will have to take steps with serious thinking.
