Fish sales resume post spill

Sumathi V, a fish vendor at Neelankarai fish market, was relieved. After a hard week of finding hardly any takers for the catch, Sumathi managed to earn on Sunday, when the business is at its peak.

“Though the fish market saw only 10 per cent of its usual customers this week, we are happy to sell at least some of our wares. Normally, we make anywhere between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 on Sundays. But after the oil spill, people are scared to buy fish. We managed to earn only Rs 3,000 this Sunday. We tell people that the fishermen go deep into the sea to catch the fish, which will not be affected by the oil,” she explained. 

The oil spill, caused by a collision between MT Dawn Kanchipuram and MT BW Maple on January 28, off the Kamarajar Port, has wrecked the livelihood of the local fishing community. As the oil reached Marina and other parts of the East Coast Road, there were concerns of contamination in seafood. 

The Fisheries Department said that samples were tested and found safe for consumption. This, however, did little to allay the fear of the public, which left the fishing community across the city in dire straits. Driven by plummeting sales, the fisher women of Neelankarai approached the Fisheries Department last week. “The authorities too tested the fish and found the samples safe for consumption. But there is a lot of misinformation, which is affecting our livelihood,” added Sumathi. 

K Bharathi, President, South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association, said the fish market near Marina saw 20 per cent of its regular throngs. “This Sunday, we made some sales. Last week was hard as we had no takers for our catch. This deterred many fishermen from venturing into the sea. The situation is improving and we hope to see the usual crowds in the fish market soon,” he added. 

Hard-hit by the lack of sales, fisher folk across the city were giving away cooked samples of fish, free of cost, to the public, to allay fears of oil contamination. Anbarasan S, a trader at Chintadripet fish market, said they fried and distributed 5,000 pieces of fresh fish to the public. 

“Now, the public knows that it is safe to consume fish. The sales this Sunday were good. We also received quite a few wholesale retailers, who will buy from us and sell in other parts of the city. Last week, we were forced to sell our catch for half the price. Luckily, the situation is better this week and business was good,” he said.

Anbarasan pointed out that though they managed to sell their catch, the collection was much lesser than usual. “Normally, we sell around five tonnes of seafood every Sunday. This Sunday, we managed to sell only two tonnes. Last week was so dismal that we struggled to sell even 2,000 kilograms,” he recalled.

The story was no different at Kasimedu in North Chennai, a bustling fish market, especially on Sundays. The oil spill and dip in sales have kept many fishermen away from the sea. “This Sunday, the sales were good but we had very few boats venturing into the sea. Usually, there will be 60-70 boats going into the sea. But the number was quite low this week,” said Balaraman P, an office-bearer of the local cooperative association. 

After a week of selling his catch for a pittance, Balaraman was thrilled to see the prices return to normal. “Last week, we were selling our catch for half the price. For example, a kilo of Vanjaram (Seer fish) was sold at Rs 300-350, as there were hardly any buyers. But this weekend, we sold it for Rs 700 per kg. This is a happy development, after more than a week of hardly any sales. I hope this continues and people start buying seafood, just like they used to before the oil spill,” he concluded.