Fish being dried at a Paradip unit. Telegraph picture

Paradip, May 30: It is boom time for those involved in the trading of dry fish in the wake of a ban on sea fishing.

With sea fish vanishing from the markets, business has been good with the demand being high.

The state government had clamped a 45-day ban on marine fishing with the prohibitory order remaining effective till May 31. In view of the breeding season of the species, the restrictions were imposed to ensure a higher fish yield, said marine fishery officials.

To cash in on the prohibition on sea fishing, fishermen communities engaged in dry fish manufacturing were found toiling round the clock.

Incidentally, Paradip is one of the state’s major dry fish production centre, the other being Huma-Sunakhala in Ganjam district. “This region produces around 3,500-4,000 tonne of dry fish every year. Dry fish have a good market in places such as Rourkela, Talcher, Sambalpur, Bargarh and other parts of western Orissa. Dry fish from Paradip is also sent to other parts of the country such as, Kerala, Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam and the north-eastern states,” said Rabi Narayan Pattnaik, assistant director, marine fisheries department.

Around 1,200 families, mostly migrant Bengali-speaking people, are in the business of dry fish for generations. Apart from this, more than 500 families are indirectly employed in this trade. The sale of dry fish, a popular culinary delicacy, picks up mostly during this period of the year while during the winter months, the sale also registers an impressive upward trend.

The state marine fisheries personnel have intensified vigil to curb the use of toxic preservatives on the processed dry fish by the fishermen and manufacturers.

“We had stockpiled surplus sea fish prior to fishing ban imposed on April 15. The stock is now coming handy because there is good buying this yea,” said Artatrana Behera, who owns a dry fish processing unit near Paradip.

“There is more work pressure and that is being compensated by the rise in sales and profits,” Behera added.

But the dry fish business has its share of problems. “The margin of profit has gone down. Business is not uniform around the year. But we are forced to run the show as we have no alternate mode of livelihood.”

“The rising costs of fish coupled with an increase in labour cost has led to a decrease in returns. Besides, we are also exploited by middlemen,” said S. Govinda Rao, a dry fish trader from Sandhakuda. “However, we are successfully managing the trade following the boom in sale in recent times,” Rao added.