The fishing industry in Maharashtra’s Konkan belt has run ashore after demonetisation of big currencies crippled cash availability to buy diesel for boats and pay sailors. The 720-km coastline stretching across the four districts of Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg has a booming fishing business and caters to major fish markets in the state. Post demonetisation, fishermen in Ratnagiri are struggling to set sail. Hundreds of boats small and medium are anchored off the coast or have been beached at Mirkarwada, a major fishing centre in Ratnagiri. Sailors have deserted the boats as the owners failed to make their weekly payments for the past four weeks. Fishing boat owner M Sharif Ali Darve told TOI that demonetisation broke down the chain of fishing network at Mirkarwada. Sailors on some boats returned to their villages as the boat owners failed to give them their weekly pay. One medium fishing boat requires a minimum of 30 sailors. The weekly pay of these sailors costs the boat owner over Rs 21,000 per boat. Apart from this, sailors are paid Rs 500 to Rs 700 per trip based on experience. Boat owners also need to shell out about Rs 20,000 to buy diesel. Both these amounts are much higher than the withdrawal limit set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Darve, a former member of the Ratnagiri Municipal Council, said there are more than 1,000 such boats in Mirkarwada alone. “Along with these expenses, the sailors need food ration for the 10 days in the sea, which costs around Rs 5,000. It has become tough for owners like me to get the boats sailing in the sea,” he said. Akbar Hodekar, another boat owner from Mirkarwadi, said they were experiencing a decline in the demand in local market in Konkan too. “The government should quickly bring currency notes of lower denomination in the market to ease business. Even the withdrawal ceiling at banks should be relaxed for fishermen,” he said. A lot of sailors are out of work during the peak season. Sailing and fishing along the coast is prohibited during the monsoon, between June and September. It is only after October that sailors set off and return after making 10-day trips. Sanjay Dolarekar, who sails boats, said the owner did not have legal tender to make weekly payments and they were not keen on accepting the Rs 2,000 notes. “Some of my colleagues have left for their villages after the government decision as they did not have money. Even the demand for fish has declined,” he said. Low demand in the market has brought down the rates. Aslam Fazal Ali, who supplies fish to markets in Manglore, Mumbai and Goa, said customers do not have enough money to buy fish. “The demand for fish has declined drastically since demonetisation. We are not getting good rates for the produce,” he said. Others involved in the fishing trade loaders, suppliers, transporters have registered a decline in business owing to meagre demand. Banvari Sharma, a local loader, said a team of five that works at the Mirkarwada jetty has not been paid for two weeks. “The traders don’t have money to pay us. We are living on the hope that the situation will be back to normal after December,” he said.
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