Low procurement prices,fishermen demand govt to set up DPCs

Though the boat owners had spent huge money towards fuel, wages for fishing labourers and other costs, the companies offered very low prices for prawns and fishes, Rameswaram Fishermen Association President P Sesuraja told reporters here after an urgent meeting of 11 fishermen associations.

The meeting sought the intervention of the Tamil Nadu government in the matter and to ensure they got a fair deal.

Meanwhile, mechanised boat fishermen of Rameswaram urged Tamil Nadu government to set up “Direct Procurement Centres” (DPCs) across the state to buy fishes on the lines of DPCs to procure paddy from farmers at the support price.

“The State fisheries department should establish DPCs in the fishing jetties across 13 coastal districts to procure marine species from fishermen directly similar to that of run by Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation,” said S Emerit, leader of Rameswaram Mechanised Boats Fishermen Association, here.

He said though the fishermen returned to the shore this morning with a bountiful cache of around 600 to 800 kg of export-quality shrimps, crabs and fishes per fishing trawler on the first day after the end of 61-day annual fishing ban period, they could not get fair price as the ‘syndicate’ formed by the buyers, mostly exportcompanies offered very low prices.

The syndicate offered Rs 300 per kg for export-quality shrimps and other cache though the market price would be around Rs 600 to 800 per kg. The export companies refuse to give a fair deal and we are forced to sell the marine cache at the ‘unilateral price’ fixed by them, he alleged. Since the export companies come within the purview of Central government, it should ‘fix’ price for marine cache similar to that of paddy and sugarcane to protect the livelihood of fishermen, he said.

Meanwhile, Ramanathapuram MP, K Nawaz Kani on Sunday appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to establish a Fish Processing Unit in Rameswaram for the benefit of fishermen, as it is one of the major fishing centre in South India.